


The Choice

by CocoaChoux



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Boarding School, Game Spoilers, Gen, Hanako Games, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Magical Diary AU, Other, Past Character Death, Pastel Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Student Eren Yeager, Teacher Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 04:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8129711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CocoaChoux/pseuds/CocoaChoux
Summary: It all started when Eren was offered the Choice when he was 13.Now he's enrolled into an academy to develop his magical powers, but there's this one teacher who's making his school year difficult.





	1. The New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jiraffeca](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jiraffeca/gifts).



> Hello everyone! It's been a while hasn't it? Hope you all had a wonderful summer!
> 
> Throughout my vacation, I solely worked on this fic for a special someone because I have a thing where I need to complete a fic or chapter before updating/working on another one, but... as you can see by the word count, this turned out to be a monster. o3o
> 
> HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY YUFIE!!! I stalked your twitter before I left and I remembered that you wanted a fic with pastel witch Levi and uh, I hope this suffices. ;w; 
> 
> *****Note:** This is in the same universe as Hanako Game's [Magical Diary](http://www.hanakogames.com/magical_diary.shtml). The main character (that you play as) I modeled Eren after, and Levi is based on Professor Grabiner (so they can be OOC at times). So if you haven't played the game yet, this fic STRONGLY follows that relationship path. (Hehe, this could also be a walkthrough as well ^^) I literally played the game and then wrote a scene, play, write, play, write, etc. hence why you see some 'timeskips' because it's a change of scene in the actual game. You don't actually need to play the game to understand the fic and the references but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! :D

It all started when Eren was offered the Choice when he was 13.

He couldn’t believe that he had some magical powers in him that could lead to something great. It was like a dream.

He still couldn’t believe it, even now at 16, standing in front of him was Wall Rose Academy, a school for magic-users to develop and hone their skills.

His parents were kind enough to drive him from several cities over to his new school. His mom gave him a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek for good luck, and his dad… well, he acted like Eren expected he would, trying to hide his tears while giving Eren words of encouragement.

“But if you ever feel that it’s not right for you, call us and we’ll pick you right up.”

“I’ll be fine, Dad,” he reassured the older man. “I’ll write to you every week, okay?”

One more super-manly hug later, Eren waved his parents goodbye. Picking up his suitcases, he entered through the school gates. The school itself was like a boarding school, located on a mountain in a secluded area part of the city. There were lush trees and the gardens were in full bloom. There was even a grand fountain in the middle of the courtyard, but there weren’t any help desks or signs anywhere to ask for information.

“Where did I put it...” Eren mumbled, fumbling through his pockets to take out the sheet of paper that had a map that showed him where his dorm was.

“Wolf Hall... Wolf Hall… Wol- ah!” Eren bumped into someone and the sudden impact made him stagger. “Oh, shit! Sorry!”

In front of him was an older male, shorter than he was, and had no Hall symbol on his robes which meant that he was a professor. Fuck.

“Tch. Watch where you’re going.” His voice was deep with a hint of a French accent. Eren couldn’t help but stare at the man as he was dusted off his pink robe and purple cape. Odd color choice since all the uniforms were grey with different cape colors depending on which Hall you were in, but then again, maybe the professors could wear anything they liked.

The man looked at him over and Eren stood straight at the attention. “A new student, hm? What’s your name?”

“E-Eren Yeager, sir. First year. Wolf Hall.”

“A wolf, huh? Not surprising,” he mumbled as he flipped through his book and then paused. “And a wildseed as well. How dull.”

Eren opened his mouth to say something but then the man wrote something down and snapped the book shut. “10 demerits, Mister Yeager. Classes haven’t even started yet and you’re already on your way to being expelled. Focus on your surroundings and maybe it won’t happen in the immediate future. Good day, Mister Yeager, and I’ll see you in class if you make it far enough.” Adjusting his blue hat, he turned his heel and walked away.

Eren stood there, stunned, wondering if that just happened. Groaning, he grabbed his suitcases and trudged his way to the dorm area. This was definitely not a good way to start the school year.

After walking around and asking passing students, he finally made it to the boys’ dorm and was in the Wolf Hall, going up the numbers and was in front of room 104. Going into the room, he was greeted by a blond boy who sat up straight at his entrance.

“Oh, hi! Are you our other roommate?”

“Yeah. I’m Eren, Eren Yeager.” Eren put down his bags and shook the other boy’s hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Eren. I’m Armin Arlert. You can pick either of these beds. Jean, our other roommate, claimed that one over there.”

Eren nodded and looked around the room. It seemed pretty ordinary, just some desks and bookshelves along with the beds. The bathroom was connected to their room, but other than that, nothing too special.

“Hey, those books over there yours?” Eren asked, nodding to the shelf next to Armin, filled to the brim with books of various sizes.

“Yeah,” Armin admitted with a sheepish look. “Those are all the books I could find about magic now. It’s not a lot, but I wanted to be prepared before classes start.”

“You must be a good student then.”

“Not really, just prepared. Are you a wildseed too?” Armin asked.

“What is a ‘wildseed’?” He heard that term before from that professor, but he didn’t know what it meant.

“It means that your parents weren’t born with magic,” a voice chimed in.

Eren turned around to see another male in the room, holding his hand out for Eren to shake.

“The name’s Jean Kirstein. My whole family has magic so I knew I would end up at this academy one day.”

Eren shook his hand. “Eren Yeager. And I guess Armin and I are ‘wild.’ Is it a bad thing that we are, though? I met a professor on my way here and he was a total jerk when he knew I was a wildseed.”

Jean narrowed his eyes. “Did he have black hair with a resting bitch face? Wears pretty robes despite his clashing personality?”

“Uh, yeah. Bumped into him earlier today and he gave me 10 demerits.”

Jean let out an impressed whistle. “Damn, Eren. You’re already on shortie’s blacklist before orientation started? That must be a new record.”

“Do you know him?” Armin asked.

“Professor Ackerman? Not personally, but my good friend Marco – he’s a senior at this school – told me horror stories about him. He’s strict and ruthless and got 14 students expelled last year in one semester alone.”

Eren groaned. “I’m so dead. He already hates me.”

“He hates everyone. You’re not special.” Jean patted Eren’s shoulder sympathetically. “Now go unpack and I’ll introduce you to some of my friends later. Orientation starts tomorrow and you guys probably want to rest up before we have our first classes.”

 

 

 

Students gathered in the gymnasium, excitedly chatting with the person next to them. Eren noticed how everyone wore the same uniform but with different cape colors depending which Hall they resided in.

The chatter settled down when someone took the stage. They looked very upbeat, skipping up to the podium and their ponytail swished along with their movements. Based on their robes, they weren’t a student either.

“Good morning, starshines! Welcome to Wall Rose Academy – the school for all magical beings and friends who accepted the Choice years ago.

“I am Professor Zoe, one of your instructors and also the headmaster of this school. Welcome, welcome.”

Students clapped at their introduction and Professor Zoe spoke again, “Now, for those who are not yet familiar with the different kinds of magic, I’ll briefly tell you what they are. All magic spells can be classified into five categories: red, blue, green, black, and white. Red is for strength, blue is for illusion, green is for nature, black relates to physical objects, and white is within the mind. It’s pretty simple enough and we will go more in-depth in class. I suggest you know a little bit of everything before specializing into one category. And if you’re a studious little bugger, you may learn a few spells that require you to be at higher levels in two or more categories. Why, some of my most favorite spells are the ones that-” _THWACK._

Eren, along with the other students, jumped when Professor Zoe was suddenly hit with a… stick? Wand? They fell back from the podium but then jumped back on and started cackling.

“Okay, that’s my cue to stop talking or else Professor Grumpy over there would set my robes on fire. Wouldn’t be the first time he did it,” they chuckled but no one followed along with their amusement, afraid if they did, they would suffer the said consequence.

“Anyways, we hope that you have a wonderful time here at the academy. Magic is so diverse and so are the users of it. As your instructors, we will do our best to make sure you succeed in whatever path you take so long as you, the student, will work and study diligently but always make room for all the fun we have in store for you. Welcome to Wall Rose Academy and I’ll see you darlings in class.”

To Eren’s disappointment, they didn’t cast a spell to disappear. Instead, they just stepped down from the podium and walked off stage normally.

Armin bounded beside him as they walked out of the gym, his voice was filled with excitement. “This is amazing! What kind of magic do you think you’ll focus on, Eren?”

“I think I’ll like red and blue the most. I tend to be more aggressive with my approach with things and transformation seems pretty cool. How about you, Armin?”

“White for sure. I’ll probably dabble into black and red as well but I’ll have to see what happens in class. I wonder what kind of professors would be teaching us.”

“I don’t know but I sure hope I don’t get Professor Grumpy for any of my classes.”

 

 

 

Fuck. Was he teaching _this_ class?

Eren inwardly groaned and was glad that he opted to sit near the back of the classroom. He tried to hide away from Professor Ackerman’s glare as he looked over each and every student in attendance.

“Good. You’re all seated already. At least there’s some sense in the lot of you.”

No one said anything or even cracked a smile in agreement. Guess his reputation as a no-nonsense teacher spread like wildfire.

“This will be your introductory class into blue magic – the magic of transformation and change. One of the most useful types of magic you will learn and can be taken advantage of just as easily.” Professor Ackerman narrowed his eyes for anyone to challenge him. No one did.

“I expect all students of mine to not be shitheads and use their powers wisely. These classes are going to be useful and I expect you to apply everything you’ve learned in class during your dungeon exams since I’ll be supervising them along with Professor Goggles.”

Professor Ackerman took a deep breath. “And that’s the end of my obligated introductory speech. Let’s get started and I hope for your sake that I’m not wasting my time with these lessons.”

Eren bit his lips when Professor Ackerman was looking his way, maintaining eye contact with him for more seconds than necessary before turning back to the blackboard.

He huffed in irritation. What the fuck? Was the last part directed at him or something? Eren subconsciously clenched his fist.

Oh, he would show Professor Ackerman what he was made of. He made his Choice years ago and he was not backing down on his decision because of some prissy teacher who thought he was better than everyone else.

 

 

 

The rest of the week was spent on studying and taking the other magic classes. Apparently, Professor Ackerman also taught the red magic while Professor Zoe taught the other ones for all the freshmen classes.

Professor Ackerman’s style of teaching was exactly how Eren imagined it would be – strict and grueling with a quick foul mouth when something was done incorrectly – while Professor Zoe’s way of teaching was a bit more practical but with a lot more theory and history involved; and more often times than not, a student would have to interrupt their rambling in order to actually learn something in class.

Besides the professors, Eren threw himself into studying. While he did want to prove a point to Professor Ackerman that he was a great student who had potential, he honestly found studying magic to be fun. Every time he learned a new spell, he would grin with glee and quickly moved on to learn the next one. While he wasn’t necessarily a horrible student in his regular life, it was something about learning magic that was, well, _magic._

Eren spent his Sunday writing a letter to his family as well as staying in to study and prepare for class for the following day. Jean looked irked by Eren’s refusal to go to the nearby mall, but Armin looked grateful for having a study buddy around. The two quickly became good friends since they shared similar backgrounds of having non-magical parents and their determination to succeed in a magical academy to become wizards. Sunday passed by quickly with them quizzing each other on spells they learned in class.

On Monday, however, they gathered together with the rest of the students in the gym again.

“What’s going on? I thought we already had an assembly last week,” Eren whispered to Jean.

The other boy shook his head and didn’t say anything, but he winked just in time for Marco to go up the stage and took his place behind the podium.

“Good morning fellow students. I’m Marco Bott, senior president of Wall Rose Academy, but for the next week, you will refer me as Sir Marco.”

Marco smiled, but his angelic features turned mischievous. “Welcome, freshmen, to your initiation.”

The doors slammed open and Eren, along with his peers, stood straight when seniors came pouring in, giving each person a stack of paper before circling them like a solid wall.

Eren briefly looked through his stack of papers, which was the initiation handbook, and it explained the tradition of the initiation along with the set of rules that must be followed for the next week: every senior must be referred to as ‘Sir’ or ‘Lady,’ do not turn your back on a senior, do not stand taller than a senior, and other absurd commands. Eren resisted the urge to roll his eyes at how ridiculous this all seemed.

“Now that you all have taken a chance to look at your handbook,” Marco said after a few minutes, “It’s time for the next step. Each one of you will be chosen by one senior. You must obey them so long as they don’t break any of the rules. This senior will be your enemy and your savior from the rest of us. Stay where you are and the seniors will pick you.”

Eren fidgeted where he stood and he could see beside him that Armin was nervous as well. Seniors around them were already barking orders and slowly picking their freshman to bully for the next week.

“Eren Yeager.”

Eren whipped his head up to the grinning sandy blond boy in front of him. “Yes, Sir-?”

“Farlan Church, don’t worry about the formality stuff. And I decided that you’re coming with me, Eren.” He stuck his hand out for Eren to take.

“Uh, but…” Eren recalled one of the rules that said that freshmen were not allowed to accept their senior’s hand.

“It’s fine,” Farlan waved off. “I was a freshman once too, you know. I know how annoying this thing can be so I’m going to make this as painless as possible for ya.”

Eren accepted his hand. “Thank you.” He was relieved to have a kind senior watch over him during the initiation.

Farlan smirked. “No problem, Eren. I think we’re going to get along just fine.”

 

 

 

True to Farlan’s word, Eren’s initiation wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. Farlan didn’t boss him around compared to the other seniors Eren has seen and he hasn’t been embarrassed compared to Jean, who had Isabel as his senior, and had to sing the alphabet exactly 33 times out loud in the courtyard.

Eren was walking to the cafeteria when someone grabbed his arm. Jerking back, Eren turned around to see Farlan with a bashful look on his face. “Oh hey, Farlan. What’s up?”

“Sorry to do this, but I’m going to ask you to do something embarrassing for me. Some of my classmates caught wind of me not roughing you up enough and convinced me to do something to you for the sake of tradition.” Farlan even grimaced as he said it.

“Sure. What do you need me to do?” It was almost the end of the initiation week anyway and Farlan has been great to him during that time, defending him from the other seniors who wanted to boss him around. What was one embarrassing task just to placate Farlan’s friends?

Farlan visibly relaxed. “Thanks, Eren. The thing I need you to do is write me a love letter.”

Eren blushed. “I- what?”

“It was Isabel’s idea,” Farlan shrugged. “Something cheesy and sickening as possible if you can. It doesn’t have to be too long either, maybe a paragraph or two to fill up the page. Think you can do that for me?”

Eren looked into Farlan’s eyes and saw how genuinely sorry he was for making him do this. “Sure.” Farlan was quite handsome anyway. Writing a love letter shouldn’t be that hard.

“Thanks. Swing by Falcon Hall in the evening to deliver it. I’ll catch ya later.” With a wave, Farlan left and Eren sighed. He had no clue how to write love letters, let alone how to start one.

Maybe he could borrow one of Connie’s romance novels later for ideas.

 

 

 

_“Your voice is silky as satin and deep as the ocean is blue. When I think of you, my heart beats like a tribal drum and I know my love for you is true.”_

Eren’s ears turned red while Jean was laughing hysterically beside him, tears already flowing down his cheeks. Armin put down the paper that contained line after line of grossly sweet metaphors Eren didn’t know he was capable of writing and chuckled as he passed the letter back to the original owner. “I think it’s fine, Eren. Exactly what your senior asked for.”

“I hope so. It was hard to find all these comparisons.” Eren took his letter back and folded it to fit inside the envelope. “With this, my initiation is pretty much over.”

“Lucky you,” Jean complained. “My senior wants me to do 13 laps around the school on the last day as good luck for the rest of the school year.”

“How about you, Armin?” Eren asked.

The blond boy shrugged. “I have to go help file some records with Marco and help with sorting out the money. I think he’s just using the initiation as an excuse to get student council work done.”

“Well, student council elections for the freshmen classes start soon. Do you think you’ll join?” Jean asked.

“Not really. I would rather spend my time sleeping. How about you, Eren?”

“Probably not. I did help around with my old school’s student council with event set up, but I don’t think it’ll interest me.” Looking at the time, Eren stood up. “Sorry, I gotta go deliver this letter now.”

“Make sure to seal it with a kiss,” Jean cackled.

His laughter was cut off by a pillow to the face.

 

 

 

The moment Professor Ackerman entered the classroom, students scrambled back to their seats to avoid getting detention with him.

Eren quickly took out his textbooks and watched the man as he strutted his way across the front of the classroom in his mint-colored robe and pink hat, but only to stop right at his desk and frowned. Professor Ackerman cautiously picked up the envelope that sat on his desk and took out a letter. He sort of smirked when he looked over the letter and cleared his throat.

_“Your voice is silky as satin and deep as the ocean is blue...”_

Eren’s eyes widened and his blood ran cold. Students around him giggled, but he couldn’t hear them over his heart pounding wildly against his chest.

 _“When I think of you, my heart beats like a tribal drum and I know my love for you is true,”_ he finished off. Professor Ackerman crumpled the letter and his smirk went from playful to deadly and the class immediately turned silent. “Is anyone daring enough to admit they wrote this piece of shit?”

Students shifted their eyes between one another and Eren took a deep breath and stood up, his knees quivering. “I-I did, sir.”

“Mister Yeager. Why am I not surprised?” Professor Ackerman crossed his arms and tilted his head just so, making Eren flinch from empty eyes looking at him. “10 demerits and detention this weekend. I also suggest you leave right now to further prevent any distractions for the rest of the class.”

Eren harshly bit his lips and quickly packed away his things and rushed out of the classroom, trying his best to ignore his fellow classmates’ stares as he left. He was fuming with anger and embarrassment and stomped his way to Falcon Hall to find the source of it all.

His anger must have been noticeable since no senior or faculty member stopped him along his way to Farlan’s room and he banged his fist on the door. “Farlan! I know you’re in there!”

Not a second later, the door opened to reveal a sleepy-looking Farlan. “Eren? Wh-”

 **“You.”** Eren accused. “You gave my letter to Professor Ackerman! Not only am I the laughing stock of my entire class and having to spend time with him in detention, but he also gave me 10 demerits to boot! At this rate, I’m going to get expelled from the academy!” He was shaking now and had to clench his fists or else he would do something stupid that would actually kick him out of the school.

Farlan, at the very least, looked distraught at the news. “What? Letter? But there’s no way he could have-” He stopped himself and groaned. “Izzy,” he hissed out.

Eren furrowed his brows in confusion and flinched when Farlan grabbed his shoulders. “Eren, I know this might sound like an excuse, but Izzy was doing that on purpose. She thought the letter might… loosen him up or something,” he explained.

The brunet was even more confused but still pissed off. “Levi? Is that Professor Ackerman? And why is she messing with him in the first place?”

“It is. And I can’t exactly tell you why she did it in the place, but what I can do is have a talk with him so you won’t get detention and get your merits back.”

“How can you do that? He wouldn’t even let me have a chance to explain in the first place.”

“Oh, trust me. I’m sure I’ll be able to convince him.” Farlan gave him a wink and another pat before letting go. “Go and take a breather for today, I’ll go handle Professor Grumpy.”

Eren didn’t look convinced but it was the best option he had right now. “Fine. Thanks, Farlan.”

“Ah, it was my fault anyway. Shouldn’t have given Izzy a copy of my room key in the first place but I’ll settle everything. See ya later, Eren.” With his signature farewell wave, Eren walked out of Falcon Hall and headed towards the library. Even though Farlan said to take a break, he definitely wasn’t going to shirk his studies if he wanted to prove himself to Professor Ackerman.

 

 

 

It was the next day and Eren was on his way to Professor Zoe’s class when a familiar voice called to him.

“Mister Yeager.”

Eren halted his steps and turned to the bane of his existence. “Good morning, Professor Ackerman. What can I do for you today?” he greeted politely but his voice was snipped, still angry about the day before.

To Professor Ackerman’s benefit, he looked uncomfortable and shifted in his spot. Eren noted the pastel flower prints along the trim of the man’s white robe and hat, making him wonder why the professor would wear something that was the complete opposite of his personality, but a cough interrupted his thoughts.

“I would like to apologize for my behavior yesterday, Mister Yeager. I believe I was brash with my decision and did not allow you the chance to explain yourself properly. Receiving fake love letters are pranks that I do not enjoy and I was quick to judge you on your intentions. I forgot it was still initiation week and assumed wrongly.”

Eren blinked. He didn’t expect that kind of apology – or any for that matter – from him of all people.

Professor Ackerman continued, “You won’t be serving detention and I’ll return the 10 merits I wrongly took from you, and also the 10 merits I took before as an apology and a reward for being honest and brave. Though, it’s more suicidal than courageous when it comes to dealing with me.”

Did he just make a joke? Even so, Eren sighed in relief and smiled. “Thank you very much, sir!”

The man looked taken back. What? Was there something in his teeth?

Before he could check, Professor Ackerman coughed again. “Think of it as being even now. I will still keep an eye out for you, though. You seem like the type to attract trouble and I don’t need another Springer to deal with. Good day, Mister Yeager. I’ll see you in class.” And just like the first time they met, Professor Ackerman turned his heel and walked away.

Eren was still smiling when he resumed walking to his class. He didn’t know how Farlan did it, but he would have to thank him later. He wouldn’t exactly say he was now on good terms with Professor Ackerman, but at least the man didn’t hate his guts and that was something.

 

 

 

“You guys ready for the exam this week?”

Eren looked up from his textbook and nodded at the senior who sat across from him. “Yeah. I think I am. How about you, Arm?” he asked his stressed companion sitting beside him.

Armin groaned and slunk down in his chair. “I don’t know. All we know about the exam is that we have to make it out the school dungeons alive. I’m guessing we have to use the spells we learned in class in order to escape, but what kind of school lets their students fend for themselves without guidance?”

“It’s to test what you have learned and put it to real use,” Farlan explained. “I can’t tell you what will happen during your exams since it’s different each time, but I will say that you’re not in any actual danger. The professors will watch over you and see your progress and if something happens, they’ll teleport you out.”

“That’s reassuring. I just hope we don’t do horribly enough to actually need to be rescued,” Armin said. “Are you going to Professor Ackerman’s review class tomorrow, Eren?”

“I don’t know. I finally managed to not be on his ‘list’ anymore and I don’t want to risk him hating me even more than he probably does.”

“You should go, Eren,” Farlan encouraged. “You’ll definitely learn a thing or two and you’re always studying so if anything, you’ll be impressing him with your knowledge.”

“You sound as though you two are close.”

“You can say that. Isabel and I knew him before entering the academy.”

Eren wanted to ask more but based on Farlan’s short reply, he wasn’t going to pry any further. “Sure. I guess a review session wouldn’t hurt. I think I’ve done as much as I can for studying by myself anyway.”

Farlan smiled encouragingly. “Good idea, Eren. I’m sure Levi would be pleased to have someone there to help.”

 

 

 

The small room was overcrowded with nervous freshmen clutching their notebooks and furiously writing down every word Professor Ackerman was willing to dish out.

“Miss Braus, can you care to tell me what kind of magic you would need to use to dispel illusions and reforming reality in front of you?”

Sasha, a girl from Horse Hall and a fellow classmate of his, stiffened in her seat. “Uh… green, sir?”

“You couldn’t have been more wrong.” Professor Ackerman rolled his eyes before looking at Eren. “Mister Yeager, care to tell me the correct answer?”

“I believe it is blue, sir?”

“There’s no need to question the correct answer, Mister Yeager. The more confident you are with yourself, the better decisions you will make.”

Eren wasn’t sure if Professor Ackerman was reprimanding or giving him a life lesson, but he remained silent and jotted down notes anyway.

The rest of the study session was spent him helping other freshmen with the theory taught in class with Professor Ackerman supervising. Maybe Eren imagined it, but he swore Professor Ackerman sent a few approving nods at him whenever he helped someone understand the material better. Even though he didn’t necessarily learn something new, teaching others what he knew was a great way for him to review for the exam.

And he was glad that he did because the next day after classes, he was teleported to an area of the school he had never seen before.

“Wha-?”

 _“Welcome, Mister Yeager, to your first dungeon examination,”_ a voice echoed through the empty, dark room. _“You must escape through the wall in front of you using the magic you’ve learned in class. Best of luck with your exam.”_

“What?” That was all the instructions he had?

Eren loudly exhaled and looked at the brick wall in front of him. So he had to use the magic he learned in class, huh? He examined the wall closely and pressed his hand on it. Yup. Solid. Maybe it was an illusion? It was mentioned in the review session the day before.

Thinking back to Professor Ackerman’s blue magic class, he remembered reading something about a teleportation spell. It was a bit more complex than the other spells they went through in class, but it was worth a shot since he didn’t know what else to do. If he was teleported _in_ this room, then surely he could teleport back _out_.

Stepping back, he flicked his wand in a certain pattern and blue scriptures covered the wall and-

“Argh!”

He was no longer in the dungeon room. Instead, the clear skies of the academy greeted him but it looked upside down for some reason.

“Mister Yeager!”

Eren rolled to his side and sat up just in time for Professor Ackerman to rush over to him. “Are you alright?”

Wow, Eren never would’ve imagined seeing the professor look so concerned for his well-being. With a hiss, he rubbed the back of his head and nodded. “Yeah, I think so. What happened?”

“Being a surprising shithead, that’s what. I didn’t expect you to already know to teleport at this level.”

Dusting off his robes, Eren stood up and peered down at his professor. “So, did I do okay?”

Professor Ackerman huffed in irritation. “You actually exceeded my expectations. Because of how well you did, you receive 10 merits for passing this exam.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The man looked away. “Do not thank me, Mister Yeager. It is because of your efforts that you did so well. Keep up the good work, but be warned, you cannot use the same spell for the next exam.” With that, he walked away, most likely going to watch over the next student’s exam.

Eren smiled uncontrollably. He actually did it! Not only did he passed his exam with merits, but Professor Ackerman was actually impressed with his skills. His hard work was finally paying off and it just made him even more pumped to do even better.

With a skip in his step, he headed to the cafeteria. Time for a celebratory cake for a job well done.

 

 

 

“I’m jealous.”

Eren yelped, startled by the voice that whispered in his ear. He turned to see an energetic redhead sporting a wide grin. “Uhm, good morning, Isabel. What exactly are you jealous of?”

“Your eyes,” the senior stated. She stood on her toes so she was up close and personal to Eren’s face. “They’re beautiful.”

“My eyes are just green, Isabel. And since we’re this close, I can see that your eyes are green too.”

“Mine is a boring green. Yours, however, practically shine in the sunlight. Oh man, I knew he was a goner the moment he spoke about you the first time.”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you going to run for student council?” Isabel asked, changing the subject. “Besides classroom rep, freshmen can only apply for president for their level or be the treasurer.”

“I don’t think-”

“Please?” she pleaded. “I’m the treasurer for the senior class and it’s so boring without having someone to talk to during the meetings. I’ll even help out with your campaign if you do.”

“I don’t know. I never really done anything like this before.” He had entertained the thought of running for student council. Because of their extra duties and responsibilities, council members get extra merits at the end of the school year. The downside was that he would have to spend time outside of class reporting to Professor Ackerman since he was in charge of overseeing the student council. He wasn’t sure if he was up to seeing the man more than strictly necessary. Hell, he might even get demerits instead if Professor Pastel was involved.

“I’m sure you would be a natural at it. Your eyes would be your selling point.” She patted his cheek. “So, what do you say?”

“I guess it won’t hurt to run a campaign,” Eren decided. “I’ll probably apply to be treasurer, though. I know that Historia from Butterfly Hall is running for president and there’s no way I can win against her. She’s a literal goddess disguised as a human.”

“Atta boy!” she slapped his back repeatedly and Eren tried his best not to wince from her assault. “Make sure you hand in your application by the end of this week and we’ll start campaigning the week after. This is going to be great, Eren! You’ll see.”

“I just hope my studies aren’t going to suffer from this.”

 

 

 

 _Knock knock._ “Mister Yeager?”

Said brunet groaned at his name being called and sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes. He saw that Armin and Jean were still asleep so he quietly got out the bed and opened the door. “Yesss…?” his voice was still groggy from being woken up and his eyes instinctively squinted from the bright lights of the hallway.

A snort. “Good morning to you as well.”

“P-Professor Ackerman! Good morning!” Eren blushed at how he greeted him and also the state of undress he was in. He was only wearing his boxers – dark green with prints of the wing symbol from his favorite book series – and nothing else, his chest bare for the world to see. He wanted to grab a robe or something to cover himself up but it was useless at this point, Professor Ackerman already saw what he saw and Eren shuddered when the man’s eyes grazed downward.

“Ah, so you’re a fan of the series as well. Good to know you have _some_ taste,” was what he mumbled.

“Um…?”

Professor Ackerman’s eyes snapped back to his. “You will meet with me after class so I can order any items you may wish to use during the campaign. I will also be there to answer any questions about running for council that you may have after you finish reading this information guide.” He passed Eren a stack of paper that was stapled together. “Best of luck to you. I’m sure you can use that mind of yours to good use.”

Eren waved at his teacher’s retreating form and slipped back into his room as quietly as he could. He looked down at the information guide and flipped through a few pages, groaning when he read that the treasurer had to be awake before five on Saturday mornings in order to sort out and deliver the students’ weekly allowances.

It sounded very tiresome and mundane but Eren never backed down without giving a good fight.

 

 

 

Eren stepped into Professor Ackerman’s class after tapping the door. “Sir?”

The man was beside his desk, sorting out class papers and acknowledged Eren’s presence with a nod. “Perfect timing, good. I just finished grading these papers. Now let’s-”

“I’m here!”

Eren smiled and greeted Isabel as she stumbled into the classroom while Professor Ackerman sighed. “Miss Magnolia-”

“Aww, come on, big bro. You know you can just call me Isabel,” she pouted.

“And I specifically told you to refer me as Professor Ackerman on school grounds, _Miss Magnolia_.” Eren was shocked to see Professor Ackerman lightly flicking Isabel on the nose before ruffling her hair in a fond manner. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I’m here to help Eren with his campaign of course. I’m gonna make sure he wins the election so I have someone who will deal with your boring meetings together with me.” She was ballsy, Eren had to admit. She was probably the only person who could get away from speaking to Professor Ackerman that way without getting scolded.

“I think that’s up to Mister Yeager to decide. It’s his campaign after all.” Both of them look at Eren and his eyes flickered between the two of them. While he would like Isabel’s help with votes, he also wanted to do it himself. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right.

“Actually, Isabel, I think I’ll work with Professor Ackerman. I think he would give proper guidance and unbiased opinions on my campaign.”

Professor Ackerman looked surprised at his decision while Isabel oddly looked ecstatic about it. “Great! I’m sure Levi would _love_ to help you with _anything_ you ask of him.” She pushed the man closer to Eren. “I’ll go bother Farlan then. Hope that you two have fun.” And with a wink, she closed the door behind her, leaving Eren alone with Professor Ackerman in the empty classroom.

“Is she always like this?” Eren asked.

Professor Ackerman sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. It’s even worse when she and shitty glasses gang up on me. I don’t know why I’m their source of entertainment in the first place.”

“They just probably want to see your reactions. Kind of like school children,” Eren helpfully provided.

“I assure you, Mister Yeager, that I have more than enough children to deal with on a daily basis in this school.”

Eren flushed when Professor Ackerman tossed him a smirk. That comment wasn’t directed at him, right? But it gave him the chance to see something rare, so he would let it slide this time.

“So, what do I need to do first, sir?”

The black-haired man made himself comfortable and sat on his desk, crossing his legs and his arms. He tilted his head to the side and looked at Eren in amusement.

“Since you kindly declined Miss Magnolia’s help, it’s up to you. What would you like _me_ to do for _you_ , Mister Yeager?”

Eren gulped. The way he said that sent shivers down his spine. Whether it was from fear or something else, he didn’t know.

They spent an hour in the classroom discussing the basic protocols during the election campaign period and what he could and could not do. During that time, Eren couldn’t help but notice some of Professor Ackerman’s distinct features. He had a pronounced jawline but a slim, pointed nose. His complexion was very pale, but it contrasted nicely with his ebony locks and dark grey eyes. Up close, Eren noticed little freckles dusted across his cheeks and nose and a beauty mark right under his left eye. He was quite handsome underneath his scowling expression and Eren blushed whenever Professor Ackerman looked at him in the eyes to see if he was following along with what he was saying.

“Huh?”

Professor Ackerman sighed. “I asked you if you had any other questions.”

“Oh. No, I don’t believe I have any for now but I can come to you if I have any, right?”

“If you wish to bother me with any more of this stuff then be my guest.”

“So does that mean I can’t bother you with anything else?”

Confusion etched over Professor Ackerman’s face. “What do you mean by that?”

“N-nothing! I’ll be going now.” Hastily, he packed away his things and papers and left the classroom with a quick farewell, not seeing his professor’s inquisitive stare at his abrupt departure.

 

 

 

“…and your new treasurer is… Eren Yeager!”

Boisterous cheering erupted as Eren walked on stage next to Historia, new student president representing the freshmen class (no surprise there), and they both waved as their classmates continued clapping for them. Professor Zoe was on the side wildly cheering and Eren glanced over to see Professor Ackerman standing right behind them.

When their eyes met, Professor Ackerman didn’t smile or say words of congrats, but his approving nod was more than enough for Eren to know that he did a good job on his campaign. He smiled proudly at the man, but it dropped when Professor Ackerman looked away.

“Here,” was the only warning he received and Eren instinctively caught the thing that was thrown at him and he saw that it was a set of keys.

“You will report here every Saturday mornings at five sharp to sort and deliver weekly allowances. You are also expected to be here whenever we have fundraising discussions and meetings. We already went through this and I do not want to repeat myself and everything else was explained in the handbook. Do you understand your duties, Mister Yeager?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Eren saluted.

Professor Ackerman’s lips twitched into a wry smile. “Very well. I’ll see you in class.”

Eren nodded at the dismissal and left the classroom, his heart fluttering in his chest as he walked back to his room. The door didn’t even shut close before Jean wrangled him into a headlock. “Nice job, Yeager. Knew you could do it.”

“Congrats on being the treasurer, Eren,” Armin said.

Eren managed to wiggle free out of Jean’s grasp and playfully punched the taller teen’s arm. “Thanks, guys. I’m so glad all that campaigning is over. I was getting tired from hugging everyone to vote for me.” He rolled his shoulders to accentuate his point.

“You’re pretty good-looking, so I’m sure a lot of people didn’t mind,” Armin pointed out. “Didn’t you score a few dates during the campaign?”

“Yeah he did, but he only has goo-goo eyes for Professor Cranky Pants,” Jean jeered.

“I do not.”

Jean rolled his eyes. “Uh, yeah you do.”

“Do not,” Eren protested again, crossing his arms with a huff.

“Puh-lease. I see the way you stare at him in red and blue magic class, you have a massive heart-on for him.”

“And you don’t think we don’t see the way you stare at Marco? You can literally taste the sexual tension.”

“The fuck did you just say?” Jean said as he took a step towards the brunet.

“You heard me,” Eren narrowed his eyes and narrowed the gap between them.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Armin announced, a hand on each of their chests. “No more pegging down egos. Let’s just go celebrate Eren’s new position by going to the mall and going to the arcade.”

“Oh, I bet Professor Ackerman would love to put Eren in a new position-”

“Jean,” Armin sighed exasperatedly. He wondered if it was too late in the year to switch dorm mates.

 

 

 

Being the treasurer wasn’t so bad after all. Granted, it wasn’t a super-exciting job since all Eren had to do was sort out envelopes and making sure there was the correct amount of money into them (plus waking up at an ungodly hour on Saturdays), but Isabel would come visit him when she was finished with her council duties and it was relaxing to just be in the silent room and watch the sunrise from the windows.

And sometimes, he was able to speak with Professor Ackerman when he comes to see how he was doing. At first, it was just simple pleasantries and questions for further clarification of his work, but after a few weeks, their conversations were slowly turning personal rather than strictly being school-related.

Eren learned that Professor Ackerman liked drinking black tea in the mornings – since the man would come into the room with a teacup of the stuff – and had an unusual way of holding things that he never saw in class. The man doesn’t sleep much and most of his nights were spent in his room reading after grading assigned homework and going over the next day’s lecture notes. They even discussed some favorite book titles and made recommendations to one another.

Isabel, Eren found out after a bit of prodding, was the professor’s neighbor on one side and Farlan on the other. Professor Ackerman would babysit the two occasionally and they took a liking to him after he saved them from a group of rival neighborhood kids picking on them.

“He beat the shit out of them,” Isabel recalled with a proud smile on her face. “Those kids ran off crying.”

“They deserved it for ruining my flower beds.” The man took a sip from his teacup using his unusual hand position. “Now enough blabbering and more working.”

“Yes, sir!” The two green-eyed students saluted, giggling when Professor Ackerman gave them an eye roll in return.

All in all, Eren was enjoying himself more in school and it showed.

“There’s that look again.”

“What look?” Eren closed the door behind him after he finished council duties for the day. He was surprised to see Armin already up after studying into the late hours last night for the upcoming exams.

The blond shook his head and fell back on the bed. So much for being awake.

“The one you get whenever you finished talking with Professor Grumpy,” Jean mumbled from under the covers. Armin grunted in agreement.

“I don’t have a certain look on my face,” Eren firmly stated.

He heard a snort before Armin’s arm raised up and then waved towards the direction of the mirror. Skeptical, Eren cautiously walked over to the wall mirror and gasped.

There was a light blush on his cheeks, across his nose, and even at the tips of his ears. Even his eyes looked wider than they normally were.

“You’re so fucked, buddy,” Jean stated.

Jean and Armin were still half-asleep when Eren retrieved his hat and pulled it half-way down his face to hide from his own reflection.

 

 

 

“Oh, Eren, there you are. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure.” He moved to the side of the hallway and waited for the petite blonde to catch up to him.

“Thanks. I just wanted to ask if you know what shift you’re taking during the fundraiser.”

Eren shook his head. “Not really, no. We’re just selling tea candles at the mall to raise money for the tribute, right?”

“Yes, and we’re are stuck with shifts near closing since we’re freshmen council members,” Historia sighed. “I was just wondering if you’ll be willing to switch shifts with me so you’ll be selling until the mall closes. I… have to meet someone after and I don’t want to keep them waiting.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” Historia, one of the most hardworking and selfless people he knew, looked troubled when she asked him for the favor. He wasn’t going to say no to her.

She let out a relieved smile. “Thank you, Eren. I owe you.” Her eyes darted around and seeing that no one was within the vicinity, she spoke to him a hushed voice. “Hey, Eren? Do you think it’s weird to spend a lot of time with someone? Like, the attraction is mutual, but is it odd to constantly be with each other?”

Eren raised a brow. He would’ve never imagined Historia to come to him asking for love advice. Realizing he hasn’t answered yet, he coughed. “Well, that depends on the couple, but as long as both of you are into it, I don’t see the problem with it.”

Historia smiled in relief again and nodded. “Thanks, Eren. I needed to hear that. Ymir’s been grouchy for the past few days ever since I started dating, but I guess I need to spend more time with her.”

“Maybe she could help you with the booth?” he suggested.

“That sounds like a good idea. We can hang around in the mall before my shift starts. Thanks!”

With a wave, the girl took off, leaving Eren alone to himself.

“Spending time together, huh?” Whether he wanted to or not, Professor Ackerman’s face appeared in his mind. Literally shaking his head from those thoughts, he went back to his room.

After finishing delivering the allowances, he hopped onto the bus along with other students and Professor Ackerman to the mall. Since his shift wasn’t until the very end, Eren walked around with Armin to the bookstore the blond wanted to go to and collect the book he ordered, and spent the rest of the day at the arcade with Jean and Connie, competing to see who would manage to get the most tickets. He passed by Isabel and Farlan a few times as well, stopping and grabbing dinner with them, and he even spotted Historia and Ymir hanging out at the fountain. He waved when Historia smiled at him and politely nodded to the freckled brunette. Good to see that they were on good terms with each other again.

It was finally dusk and Eren made his way to the middle of the mall where the school’s booth was set up. There were some candles left and Eren situated himself behind the table while the previous student left and smiled at Professor Ackerman. “Good evening, sir.”

“Evening, Mister Yeager,” the man greeted back. “I’ll get straight to the point: I’m not a sales person and it would benefit everyone and the tribute if I didn’t interact with potential customers.” Eren snorted but shut his mouth when the pastel wizard glared at him. “I’ll be sitting over there reading. Do not disturb me unless strictly necessary. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.”

With a curt nod, Eren watched Professor Ackerman sit down far away from the booth and the merchandise with a large tome in his hand. To Eren’s joy, the man pulled out glasses from his robes (pale yellow with pink detailing, Eren noticed) and perched them on his nose. The glasses suited him and Eren bit his lips from smiling when the glasses would slip down a bit and Professor Ackerman would push them back in place. Cute.

He broke out of his thoughts when someone on the other side of the table was trying to grab his attention. Plastering a smile on his face, he answered the person’s question and sold two candles after telling them it was for a school fundraiser.

Time passed by and there were barely any candles left. Eren was pleased that his fundraising idea was well-received and he even bought a few candles himself so he could bring it back home with him for the holidays.

The mall slowly turned silent when shoppers decided to go home and Eren had no idea what time it was. One by one, the stores closed off the lights and locked the doors. Looking up to the mall’s ceiling windows, it was pitch black with specks of white shining through. He turned to see Professor Ackerman still engrossed with the book and he remembered how the man said not to disturb him unless needed, but surely they should be done now, right?

It was the sound of the gates closing down the store next to them that Professor Ackerman looked up from his book. He blinked and looked around before settling on Eren. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know, sir.” Eren tried to step forward but his legs gave out.

“Mister Yeager!” Professor Ackerman caught him and made the student sit down. “Were you standing this whole time? Why didn’t you say anything? You’re allowed to take breaks, you know.”

Eren looked down. “Sorry, sir.”

A sigh. “Rest. I’ll do the cleanup.” And before Eren could protest, he dropped the book he was reading on Eren’s lap. Oof. It was heavier than it looked.

Curious, Eren looked down to see the book titled, _“The Art and Truths of the Otherworld: The Summonings.”_ Huh. He remembered Professor Zoe talking about the Otherworld before in one of their ramblings in class, but he wondered why Professor Ackerman would be interested about the Otherworld if he was here on Earth. Did he want to go back to the Otherworld? It was the birthplace of magic after all and only pure magical beings were allowed access. Maybe he could borrow this book after the professor finished with it.

“We’re done here.”

Startled, Eren grabbed the book and stood up and followed his teacher when he started to walk away.

“Uh, sir? Where are we going?” The bus to the school was most likely gone already, but they should be able to catch a taxi if they went through the main entrance – which was in the opposite direction from where they were walking.

“Somewhere,” was all Eren received and he sighed. No use in prying for more details.

They turned in a deserted ally way, and before Eren could open his mouth to ask a question, Professor Ackerman flicked his wrist in front of a wall and a glass door appeared and opened for him. “Come,” he said, amused when Eren stuttered and followed him inside before the door shut and disappeared behind him.

The place looked like a typical café except for the fact that there were magical beings occupying the tables. Eren walked right behind Professor Ackerman as one of the hostesses guided them to a table. A few words were exchanged between Professor Ackerman and the hostess before she fluttered away to the bar.

“Where are we?” Eren asked.

“ _The Walls_. It’s a café named after the school. Only magic users know of this place and know how to get here.”

The same hostess came back and placed drinks on their table. Professor Ackerman nodded at her and she went about her way and Professor Ackerman took a sip of his drink (probably black tea again from the scent). Eren looked down at his cup and saw marshmallows floating on top of hot chocolate. Eren didn’t know what to think. Be insulted that Professor Ackerman would assume a ‘childish’ drink for him, or be amused since the man didn’t know Eren’s preference and made a safe guess.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Professor Ackerman looking at him expectantly and he finally took a sip, smiling at the smooth and familiar taste. He hummed in approval as he bit into the marshmallow and Professor Ackerman went back to his own drink.

They sat in comfortable silence, sipping on their drinks occasionally. The hostess came back and left a plate on their table before leaving them alone once more. Eren picked up one of the two gem-looking treats. It glowed under the light like a jewel but it was sticky to the touch. “What is this?”

“Sweetberry taffy. They’re complimentary.”

Eren almost pouted from the lack of explanation but popped the candy in his mouth anyway. His eyes widened when the taffy dissolved in his mouth like cotton candy with a sweet taste that was like a mix of strawberry and cherry before leaving a lemony aftertaste. Eren gasped in surprise. “It’s yummy.”

“Glad you like it. Here, take mine. I’m not one for overly sweet things,” Professor Ackerman said, nudging the plate towards Eren.

“Thank you, sir.” Eren popped the last piece of candy, closing his eyes and humming in content.

When he opened his eyes, he was met with Professor Ackerman’s smile. He blinked and the smile was replaced by the ever-present frown. “Sir?”

Professor Ackerman stood up. “We’re leaving.” With that, he walked away and paid for their drinks at the front.

Eren scrambled and followed Professor Ackerman out of the café, the door disappearing without a trace behind them. And as they walked to the entrance of the mall to hail a taxi, Eren couldn’t help but recall the relaxing atmosphere in the café with the man. It was nice. He hoped that they would go back again together.

_‘Together…?’_

Eren felt heat rise to his cheeks and he shook his head as though it would help stop his blushing.

And if Professor Ackerman noticed his red cheeks during the car ride back to the academy, he didn’t comment on it.

 

 

 

After Professor Zoe’s morning assembly about the upcoming winter holiday break, Historia grabbed Eren’s arm just before he left the gymnasium.

“Hey, Eren. Just wanted to say thanks again for taking my shift at the booth. Professor Ackerman said it was a huge success.”

Eren raised his brows in surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah. He said you did a great job with the fundraiser and we raised a lot for the tribute.”

“Oh. He never told me that.”

Historia giggled. “You know how he is. I knew he wouldn’t tell you directly, so I’m just relaying the message.”

“Thanks, prez.” He bit his lips so that she wouldn’t see the smile that was threatening to form. Leave it to Professor Ackerman to be reluctant about complimenting someone about a job well done.

The next few days went by quickly and everyone was already in a festive mood. Despite another dungeon exam coming up, students were outside in the courtyard making snowmen and forts to start snowball fights with other forts nearby. The cafeteria started serving richer meals and the school was gradually being decorated.

The only person who wasn’t in the same holiday mood was Professor Ackerman since his class was the only one that hasn’t been decorated with tinsel or holiday lights, and if a student even asked why, they would be given a stern glare before being ignored.

Eren was humming as he reached the council room Friday morning. Since students get to go home early later in the afternoon, he had to deliver everyone’s weekly allowance before they leave for the holidays. Stepping in, he was surprised to see Professor Ackerman already there. Normally, he would arrive an hour later and Isabel would join them soon after. “Oh. Morning, sir. Didn’t expect to see you here so early.”

Professor Ackerman merely grunted. “Good morning, Mister Yeager.”

Eren frowned at the curt response and lack of eye contact. He watched as Professor Ackerman put away a familiar-looking book into the teacher’s desk and locked the drawer with a key. With a quick wave, the man left the room and a confused Eren behind.

“Hey, Eren! I already finished my council duties this mor- What are you looking at?”

Eren whipped his head to curious green eyes and he shook his head. “Nothing.” He went over to where Isabel was and helped her sort out the envelopes while she counted the money. Thinking back to the book, Eren decided to ask, “Hey, Isabel, did Professor Ackerman come from the Otherworld?”

The girl paused what she was doing. “Yes.”

Eren was taken aback from how empty her voice was when she answered him. There had to be something more to it than that, but he shut his mouth at her blank stare and they continued sorting out the allowances.

The only class that actually had a lecture on the last day were the red and blue magic classes taught by Professor Ackerman. No surprise there. Eren listened attentively and wrote down notes while the rest of his classmates’ minds were somewhere else. He had maintained the promise he made to himself from the beginning of the school year and kept up with his studies and it resulted in him being the top of his class along with Armin and he wasn’t going to stop now.

Professor Ackerman shut his notebook with a flourish and looked up. “And this concludes today’s class. I hope you’ve paid attention since I basically gave the answers to the next exam.”

Students bolted upright when they heard that and Eren ducked down and hid his chuckling in his hand. He did no such thing. It was obvious that no one paid attention if the nervous glances and fidgeting were a given.

Professor Ackerman met his eyes and Eren smiled at the little joke and the black-haired man smirked in response.

“Class dismissed. Head over to the gymnasium for the final assembly before the break.”

No happy wishes were said and no one expected him to.

Eren lagged behind while his classmates rushed out of the room. Once the last student left, Eren walked up to the professor’s desk and placed down two neatly-wrapped boxes on top, grinning despite the professor glaring at the new items as if it personally offended him.

“What are you doing?”

“Giving you your gifts of course. I won’t see you during the break.”

“There’s two.”

Eren nudged the larger and flat box. “This is for your birthday.”

Professor Ackerman narrowed his eyes. “How did you know?”

“Isabel and Farlan.” Eren ignored the scoff and nudged the smaller box closer towards the grumpy man. “And this is for Christmas. I know you don’t celebrate it, but my family does and I want to give you something to show my gratitude for the school year so far. I learned so much from you and hopefully, this will make your holiday season a bit more bearable.”

Professor Ackerman gave him a wry smirk and took the smaller box and opened it to reveal a canister of black tea leaves and graced Eren with a small, but rare, smile. “This is acceptable. Thank you.”

Eren beamed. “Glad you approve. I gotta go now. Have a good break, sir.” He quickly left the room before his professor decided to open the other box as well. It wasn’t anything bad, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in the same room with him when he opened it to avoid questions about his gift choice.

He found Armin and Jean in the hallways and walked along with them as they entered the crowded gymnasium and stood with the rest of the freshman class. Professor Zoe was already at the podium and waited until everyone was present and flicked their wrist in a pattern to dim down the lights before delivering their final speech before the break.

“…and before we go, I have a little gift for you. Close your eyes.”

A gift? Eren closed his eyes with his fellow peers and a warm sensation bubbled from his chest.

“You’ve all done wonderfully this year and gave it your all but you didn’t do it alone. I want you to remember that there’s at least one person in your life who will support you every step of the way to whatever direction you take. Think of that person. Someone who matters in your life.

“And if that person is thinking of you as well, then you will feel a connection between you the two of you. Best of luck, starshines.”

When Professor Zoe finished their speech, there was one person Eren immediately thought of.

The first person he met at the academy – the one who helped guide him and the one he sought praise from.

And the one who gave him countless of conflicting feelings.

He didn’t know how this connection thing worked, but he mentally called out for Professor Ackerman. There was a moment of silence in his head but then he felt an air of acknowledgment bump by him before disappearing.

It wasn’t electrifying like he expected but Eren was still giddy just the same.

He left the gymnasium with a wide smile on his face, already counting down the days until he comes back to campus.

 

 

 

Holiday break dragged by too slowly for Eren’s liking. It wasn’t that he didn’t like spending time with his family (because he really did miss them but he could forgo his dad’s crying every time he had to return), but he missed school. It was the only place that he could freely talk about magic and practice different spells without worrying about exposing it to normal people. And after being in the academy for a while, he felt as though magic was now a part of him.

He greeted Jean and Armin enthusiastically when he arrived at his room and they all discussed how their holiday break went. Marco came by to visit as well as Isabel and Farlan. The three freshmen and three seniors chatted most of the day away and Eren felt a strange sense of belonging. The academy was his home again and he couldn’t wait until classes started.

When Professor Ackerman entered the classroom the next day, Eren couldn’t help but smile when he spotted his gift adorning the man’s neck. Since he knew Professor Ackerman favored pastel clothing, he got him a set of cravats in peach, lavender, mint green, and baby blue. He saw the set of cravats in a store when he was searching a gift for his mom for Christmas and knew that he had to get it for the grumpy professor.

The pale man was wearing the mint green one today and it complemented the pink robes and hat he was wearing. Silver eyes caught his, and Eren grinned when he received a nod paired with amusement in his eyes. He was glad that the stoic man was pleased with the birthday gift and the fluttery sensation that was gone during the holidays came back in full force once again.

Eren sighed as he opened his textbook when Professor Ackerman started his lecture. As much as he missed school and everyone in it, he briefly wondered if he was going to survive the rest of the school year with these feelings developing again.

 

 

 

Weeks went by and Eren fell back into his usual school routine of attending classes, learning new spells, bickering with Jean, studying for the next dungeon exam, and of course, his council duties and weekly morning talks with Isabel.

It was another Saturday morning and Eren walked through the hallways, whistling as he made his way to the council room. He saw a silhouette of a figure outside of the doorway and assuming it was his professor, he opened the door.

The greeting that he prepared died in his mouth when he registered what was going on in the room. Everything was encased in a thick, purple smoke that smelled like burnt rubber and there were strange letters in an unknown language on the floor forming into what looked like a summoning circle.

But the strangest thing in the room was the blue creature in the middle with a sinister look on its face. It looked like a ferocious genie with sharp teeth, extra sharp fingers, and horns sticking out from the top of its head. Horror etched on Eren’s features when he realized that the creature was looming over Professor Ackerman who was laying on the ground unconscious.

“Professor!”

The creature looked over to where he was and sneered. “Go away, pesky brat. You’re interrupting my meal time.”

He should’ve ran out and call out for help, but his body moved on its own. Stepping into the classroom, he was determined to save the man on the ground. He was by no means a proper wizard, but there had to be a way to dispel the summoning somehow.

But the moment his body entered the room, he felt a heavy pressure in his chest and collapsed. Frozen, unable to move from his spot.

The creature came closer and it finally dawned on Eren that he was facing a Manus – one of the most dangerous and rare creatures from the Otherworld. From what he could remember from one of Professor Zoe’s lectures, a Manus cannot be stopped unless its master orders so. Anyone else in their eyes was free game to destroy and kill and devour.

Ragged breathing was all he could hear as the Manus stood right in front of him. “Idiot. Your precious professor was actually protected the whole time. You, however, are not, and entered my domain without a seal.” It licked its lips and grinned, baring its sharp teeth. “And now I have a lovely little feast.”

Eren’s gasped when a hand reached out for him. He clenched his eyes shut, preparing for the incoming pain and death.

“YOU WILL NOT LAY A FINGER ON HIM.”

Professor Zoe’s voice shrilled like bells in his ears. He slowly opened his eyes and the outstretched hand stopped an inch from his face. Even Professor Ackerman stirred from his unconscious state and finally regained his bearings.

“What is going on?” The man mumbled, looking around in confusion.

“I repeat: you will not lay a finger on him. Step away.” Never had Eren heard such a stern voice come from Professor Zoe. They were the last person Eren would expect to be serious.

“He is mine. He entered without divine protection.”

Professor Zoe paused. Looking back between Eren and the half-awake wizard, they responded hesitantly, “He is… of the House of Ackerman.”

_What?_

Professor Ackerman slowly got up but the moment his eyes saw Eren’s, his face was void of emotion.

“He is his fiancé. One he has vowed to marry today,” Professor Zoe elaborated.

**_WHAT?_ **

The Manus turned to look at the man in question. “Is it true, young master?”

“…it is so.”

The spiritual being hissed in displeasure. “Fine then.”

And in a split second, the room was back to normal and the pressure that held him down was gone. Eren sighed in relief and was about to stand up until Professor Ackerman crouched down to his level, face twisted in anger.

“What the _fuck_ did you think you were doing, Mister Yeager?” His voice was full of venom and Eren instinctively flinched away.

“I-I…”

“Levi,” Professor Zoe interrupted. Their voice was soft and full of patience. “We can’t do this right now. I’ll get Eren ready and bring him up to speed with things. You need to go and get ready as well.”

Professor Ackerman looked as though he was going to spit in his face but stood up instead. “Hange, do you realize what kind of shit I’m in now because of his idiocy?”

“He tried to save you, Levi. Even you would think that he doesn’t deserve to get his body mangled and soul devoured. What he did was really sweet,” they grinned.

Professor Ackerman scoffed and cast Eren a dirty look before leaving the room. Eren looked over to Professor Zoe for answers but they just grabbed his arm and dragged him out and into an empty classroom.

“Professor, what’s going on?” Eren finally asked.

They sighed. “Levi has been practising summoning that Manus for a while now. It has sworn lifetime service to his family and will grant his desires; however, the moment you stepped into its ward, it decided that you would be its next meal. The only way to save you was to have you be a member of the family it serves to.”

“But, you only needed to say that in order for the Manus to stop, right? I don’t actually need to be married to him.”

Professor Zoe shook their head. “Levi has sworn, which makes it binding. If there weren’t any true intentions to his word, the Manus would know.”

“So, this means…”

“You’re going to marry Professor Ackerman to fulfill his word,” they said with a smile. “You tried to go save him and now he’s going to save you. That’s pretty romantic, don’t you think?”

Eren knew Professor Zoe was trying to lighten the mood, but all it did was make Eren feel guiltier. “Professor Ackerman is going to hate me for this.”

“Nonsense! Besides, this isn’t forever. You only need to be together for a year and a day which will fulfill his word and then you two can separate.

“I know this isn’t what you’re expecting, Eren, but you need to accept what has happen and make the best of the situation. Who knows? You two might end up liking each other and keep your married status,” they said cheerfully.

But that was the problem. Eren was sure he started having romantic feelings for his professor but after this incident, he was sure the man hated him even more than he did back when they first met.

Eren sighed in exasperation as Professor Zoe took off his cape and then tugged on his uniform.

“Now, let’s get you in some wedding robes.”

 

 

 

Eren followed Professor Zoe down a corridor he had never seen before. It looked as though it belonged in a dungeon exam with the endless brick walls and minimum lighting. Professor Zoe stopped in front of him and waved their wand, muttering something under their breath, before a descending staircase appeared. He didn’t need to be prompted as Professor Zoe led the way again down the stairs and into a clearing lit by candles.

Historia was already there, waiting. She was chosen by Professor Zoe has the official witness and was trusted to keep the whole ceremony a secret. The blonde girl went up to Eren and reached for his hand to give it a squeeze. “How are you feeling?” she whispered.

“I’ve had better days.” Eren tried to grin but it ended up looking like a grimace instead. Thankfully, Historia decided not to comment on it and pulled him onto the ceremonial carpet where Professor Zoe and Professor Ackerman were waiting.

Eren flushed when he caught what Professor Ackerman was wearing. He honestly expected white or even pastel robes, but he was dressed in dark red and gold. He didn’t wear his traditional hat either and Eren finally saw the neat undercut hairstyle that was hiding underneath. He would’ve been quite handsome if not for the scowl on his face and eyes throwing daggers at him.

Professor Zoe clapped their hands to grab their attention. “Okay, lovebirds, time to begin.”

Professor Ackerman beside him clicked his tongue but remained silent as the headmaster proceeded to begin the ceremony. Eren couldn’t focus on the elaborate sentences about promises and loyalty that was being said. All he was thinking of was how badly he fucked up and that everything was his fault. Not only does he have to face the consequences of his actions, but he also dragged Professor Ackerman with him which made it a thousand times worse.

“…and now for the exchange of the gifts.”

Eren stood upright that. It was their cue. Turning to face his professor, he offered him the basket of flowers that Professor Zoe handed to him earlier, saying that it was part of the ceremony. “I give you my courage and strength,” he said, the words repeated from the mock-rehearsal he had earlier.

Professor Ackerman held onto the handle of the basket and offered Eren a similar basket, but filled with leaves. “And I give you my guidance and protection.” The wizard held out his free hand and Eren accepted it.

Professor Zoe and Historia stepped in with thick ribbons in their hands. They looped his hands together with Professor Ackerman’s before stepping away.

“Let these ribbons of fate join these two together. For a year and one day, they are wordlessly bound by the ties of devotion,” Professor Zoe proclaimed before giving Professor Ackerman a cheeky grin. “You may now kiss your husband.”

Professor Ackerman somehow unraveled himself from the ribbons and shoved the basket in Professor Zoe’s chest. “That’s not necessary, shitty glasses.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Levi. You’re married to this cutie, live a little.”

“Fuck off.” Professor Ackerman sharply turned his head to Eren. “I’ll see you next year to severe our marital bonds.”

“Levi, be nice. He’s your husband now,” Professor Zoe said with a frown.

“And _he_ can stay out of my way.” And with a grunt, he storms out of the area.

“Are you going to be okay?” Historia hesitantly asked.

“He hates me. Forget all the respect I earned from him, it all means nothing.” Eren couldn’t help with the way his voice trembled near the end. He liked Professor Ackerman a lot but the bridge he slowly built between them crumbled and now he was worse off than he was before.

Professor Zoe hugged him. “Don’t worry, Eren. Levi is only acting this way because it was an unavoidable situation that he brought you into. Trust me, you’re not to blame whatsoever and Levi knows it’s all his fault and doesn’t know how to deal with it right now since we had to rush everything. Give him some time. He’ll come through, alright?”

Eren couldn’t do anything else but nod. It was done and dealt with now and all he could do was move forward and try to rebuild the bridge when Professor Ackerman was ready.

“Good. How about we go head over to _The Walls_? Even though the other groom isn’t here, I still think we need something to eat to celebrate a new, happy marriage.”

Happy marriage? Yeah right. With Eren’s luck, the best he could hope for was to not mysteriously disappear during one of the dungeon exams by the end of the year.

 

 

 

The following week was hard for Eren. Considering Professor Ackerman taught the two magic classes he was the most interested in, it was hard to concentrate in the beginning and was stuck doing the same spells over and over again. It was only near the end of the week that Eren finally managed to focus on his studies, even for a little bit.

However, as expected, Professor Ackerman gave him the cold shoulder throughout the week. He would make underhand remarks about responsibility and to not stick your nose into business that wasn’t yours in class during his lectures and Eren knew that they were directed at him. He couldn’t do anything but shut his mouth and keep silent. He didn’t even have the chance to speak with him since the man would quickly leave the room once class was over. Eren thought about what Hange said (they gave him permission to use their first name during that time at the café) and while patience wasn’t his forte, it was the only thing he could do without Professor Ackerman hating him even more than he already did.

“Hey, did you hear?” was the first thing Jean asked when Eren entered their dorm room.

“What?”

“The rumors of course.”

“What rumors?” Eren sighed. He just wanted to get some studying done before taking a nice long bath instead of hearing the latest gossip that was circulating the dorms. (The last one was about someone leaving bouquets of flowers in front of Historia and Ymir’s room and there was a wizard hunt to search for the person who did it.)

“Connie said he saw Professor Zoe carrying a basket and a white robe on the weekend.”

Eren felt a sense of dread and all color drained from his face.

“So what?” Armin asked.

“Those are the necessary items for a traditional wedding in the magical world. Rumor has it that they secretly got married to someone.”

“Huh. Never pegged Professor Zoe as someone who would get married in the first place. Why secretly, though? It doesn’t seem like something they would keep as a secret.”

“No one knows who they got married to so they are betting pools on who it is. My bet’s on their experiments. Maybe one of them transformed into a human form and they fell in love with it.”

Armin and Eren snickered. Eren was relieved that no one knew the actual truth. He didn’t know what would happen if word got out that _he_ was the one who got married. And to Professor Ackerman to boot.

The next morning, Eren dreaded waking up. It would mark exactly one week since the incident and one week of being Professor Ackerman’s husband. He briefly entertained the thought of skipping his council duties for just one day, but he would have his ass handed to him when students didn’t receive their allowance on time and he couldn’t risk getting demerits or his position taken away. Besides, maybe he would be able to catch Professor Ackerman this time and have an actual talk with him.

He quickly walked down the familiar hallways and opened the council room. To his surprise, Professor Ackerman was already inside, dropping off a stack of paper on the desk. “Good morning, sir,” he greeted properly.

Professor Ackerman only grunted and Eren couldn’t help the frown forming on his face. He was still being moody and difficult, but Eren took a deep breath and stepped inside to get started on his work.

They worked in awkward silence. Eren would glance over to Professor Ackerman every once in a while and each time, the wizard was transfixed on his paperwork, never once sparing a glance at him. He couldn’t help but feel put off. He was now his husband, whether Professor Ackerman liked it or not, and they needed to talk with each other to clear things up and make this ‘marriage’ easier for the both of them.

“Sir?”

“What?” was the hostile reply.

Well, weren’t they off to a great start?

“Sir, I know you want to do as little as possible with me but I would like to ask some questions to clear up some things,” Eren said in a patient tone. “I have asked Hange beforehand, but they were very vague about their answers.”

Professor Ackerman mumbled, “Of course,” under his breath but Eren continued, “I just want to make sure I’m not overstepping any boundaries or need to fulfill any duties as your temporary husband.”

The man sighed and finally looked up from his paperwork. “You are a student first and foremost so continue to focus on your studies and excel in your classes. There aren’t any obligations you need to do as my husband so you’re fine just the way you are. You are expected to respect me but you already do as a student of this academy.”

Eren nodded as Professor Ackerman got up and rounded his desk and sat on it. “Most magical couples, compared to non-magical couples, prefer to have separate living arrangements and there are no further rituals or traditions during the first year or marriage. And while I have no intentions on dying anytime soon, if something does happen to me, you are to dispose my body into the Otherworld where my magical powers can be handled properly, but you will need Hange to do this for you as you are not born of there.”

Eren noted how the professor’s voice turned cold at the last point but didn’t comment on it and continued listening, “I will not give you any special treatments since you are still my student; however, as my ‘husband,’ you will receive the benefit of being financially secured. Though, I do expect you to not take advantage of it.”

“I won’t, sir. Uhm, do I still call you ‘sir’?”

“Yes, but I now have to acknowledge you as one of my family and I would rather keep our interactions as minimal as possible.”

“And what about my family?” Eren asked. It didn’t sit well with him knowing that he got _married_ of all things behind their backs.

“For their protection and yours, it would be best if you keep this marriage secret from them. They would most likely take you out of the academy if they caught wind of it and if they do, I along with Hange would need to step in to avoid it.”

Eren pursed his lips. He didn’t like the sound of keeping his parents in the dark, but it was probably for the best. It would only be a year and then the whole thing wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

“Any other questions?”

“No, that’s all. Thank you.” While his situation wasn’t ideal, he felt better knowing that he didn’t need to drastically change his lifestyle after being forced into marriage.

“Very well.” Professor Ackerman hopped off the desk and organized his stack of paperwork that he left before heading to the door. “I’m done for today. Be sure to have the Valentine’s Day preparations ready for the next fundraiser at the end of the month. You are now a part of the Ackerman name and you are expected to continue to uphold your duties as a student and treasurer.”

“Yes, sir,” Eren saluted.

Professor Ackerman tipped his head. “Good day, _Mister Yeager-Ackerman_ ,” he said before leaving the room.

Eren’s breath hitched when he heard his new surname coming from his professor’s mouth. He was finally acknowledged in the family (albeit temporarily, but still). A wide grin was plastered on his face and the butterflies made an appearance once again.

When Isabel came in later and asked about his good mood, he just shook his head and told her it was a secret, still smiling all the while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yufie, if you check my Steam profile, I spent a ridiculous amount of time on Magical Diary just for this fic (after getting all the achievements of course :P).


	2. The Start of Another

Another week flew by with no incidences. Professor Ackerman still ignored him in class but with the knowledge of why he did, Eren refrained from drawing attention to himself during his lectures. The rumors about who Hange secretly got married to finally died off and Eren didn’t want to have another one circulating around the school because the notorious professor of the academy started referring him with his new name attached to it. At least the questions he had during the lecture were answered after the class was over since Professor Ackerman wasn’t avoiding him anymore.

He was in the library studying after delivering the weekly allowances when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around and was greeted by an angelic smile.

“Hey, Eren. Mind if I sit with you?”

Eren shook his head. “Not at all, Historia.”

The girl seated across from him and placed her books on the table. “Are the preparations for the fundraiser done?” she asked conversely.

“Pretty much. We’re just waiting for our orders to be delivered and we’ll be good to sell.”

Historia nodded in approval. “Perfect.” She glanced around her surroundings and seeing that there were no prying eyes, she leaned forward and asked in a low tone, “How’s everything with you-know-who?”

“It’s going as well as it could be. Not much has changed, but we had a talk and bear no ill-feelings with one another,” he replied in an equally hushed voice, looking around every few seconds in case there would be another person who would creep up behind them.

“You sure? He hasn’t done anything to you, has he?”

Eren gave her an incredulous look. “No, he hasn’t. He is being a gentleman and keeping his distance away from me most of the time.” The way she questioned that sent warning bells in Eren’s head and he moved so that he could sit closer to her. “Did something happen?”

Historia played with her hair and bobbed her head once. “I started dating this guy and he was incredibly nice and sweet to me when we first started, but recently he has become more… possessive.” She nervously looked around but continued when Eren gave her a comforting squeeze on her shoulder, “He wants me to be with him all the time and between council duties and schoolwork, it’s really stressing me out since I had no time for friends or even with myself.

“When I told him that I needed some space, he overreacted and made a big, public spectacle of begging me to take him back with flowers and music in the courtyard. It was really embarrassing and the way that everyone looked at me. It was though they were mentally telling me to take him back – that since he did such a thing for me that I _had_ to.”

Eren frowned. “So you’re with him again.”

“I didn’t want to, but peer pressure is a strong thing,” she chuckled dryly. “Now he’s even worse than how we were before. He will grab my hand when we’re out and glare at anyone who’ll look at me – even at my friends. He’s constantly with me and the only way I’m even talking with you right now is because he had to go back home to a family gathering today.”

“Dump him.” The warning bells before were now on high alert.

She shook her head. “I feel guilty.”

Eren resisted the urge to groan. “Look, Historia, you can’t possibly make everyone happy since obviously, you’re not happy yourself. If you want to give him a chance, maybe settle some sort of compromise with him? Have study dates or have certain times of the day or days of the week where you two can see each other while still have alone time? You’re both in this relationship together so you both need to work it out.”

“I guess…” She looked down and nibbled her lips before packing her books away. “Sorry, I gotta go. I have lots to do.”

“Sure.” Eren watched her as she practically dashed out of the library. He was concerned after their conversation but Historia was a strong girl, he was sure she would be able to handle things on her own. But if she ever needed help, he would be by her side. She was the only person besides Hange who knew about the marriage and he owed it to her for keeping it a secret.

 

 

 

Another dungeon exam later (seriously, there were too many of them and no one knew when they were going to happen), Eren found himself manning a booth in the school courtyard for the fundraiser. While it wasn’t Valentine’s Day just yet, students could order gifts and/or flowers to be delivered on the day of and he was in charge of collecting the money.

He got ordered some friendly chocolates for his roommates (Jean was moaning over the fact that he wanted Valentine chocolates the night before and he promised to order some if his horsefriend would shut up and let him sleep) and some funny Valentines for Isabel, Farlan, and Hange. He debated whether or not to send one to Professor Ackerman as well and decided to order a friendly one in the end.

If he ordered a romantic one, joke or not, Eren knew he would get his ass handed to him. There was probably a spell for it, he was sure.

The moment he placed his own orders, Reiner, a guy from his own Hall, slammed down a $100 bill on his table.

“Er…?”

“I’m making an order for Historia,” he said in his booming, loud voice.

“Do you need change?”

“No. All of it is for her.” Reiner glanced over Historia’s way but the girl looked away and Eren saw a flash of irritation on the blond’s face.

“Okay.” Eren quickly started on the order and had Reiner write down the message he wanted to be attached to his gifts. He bit his lips as he saw the words, ‘You’re mine,’ written and clenched his fists when the form was placed in the box along with the others. Reiner had to be the boyfriend Historia talked about and he wanted to say a few things to him but he held his tongue. Who knew what would happen to Historia if he started a verbal (maybe even physical) war with her boyfriend.

When he finally left, Eren walked over to where Historia was and Ymir was already by her side, rubbing her back. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’ve been kind of ignoring him lately while I try to gather my thoughts,” she said slowly.

“He’s such an ass,” Ymir plainly stated. “He’s no good for my darling Historia.”

Eren nodded in agreement while Historia giggled and whacked Ymir’s arm playfully. “Ymir, be nice.”

“What? I am being nice,” the freckled brunette defended. “He gives me a death glare every time I’m near you.”

“Maybe it’s because you give him the finger whenever you see him.”

“Or that,” Ymir shrugged. “He can kindly fuck off for all I care.”

“Ymir!”

Eren chuckled and returned the high five Ymir held her hand out for. “I personally agree with her. I don’t like the vibe he gives off.”

“You’re a good man, Eren. Almost good enough for Historia.”

“I’m actually kind of spoken for.” It was partially true. He couldn’t exactly date when he was married.

Ymir looked surprised. “Really? Who?”

“Uh…” Shit. He had to open his stupid mouth, didn’t he?

“We need to get back to work. A line is forming up,” Historia interjected. She just smiled when Eren shot her a grateful look. “I think your table needs you, Eren. These Valentines won’t sell themselves.”

“Alright. Talk to you later,” Eren waved off.

Back at his table, he sighed in relief. That was close. He didn’t know if he would even make it to the end of the school year without saying anything.

He would have to check later if there was such thing as a truth-telling spell or one to negate it for future reference.

 

 

 

After another successful fundraiser and post-chocolate consumption sickness later, Eren stepped into the room and was surprised when he saw that no one was there despite it being a minute before class. He looked to the board and the words, ‘FREE PERIOD’ were written across it.

He furrowed his brows. Professor Ackerman never canceled a class before. Shrugging, he decided to take a walk in the school’s garden for a well-deserved break but found himself literally pounced on the moment he stepped on the cobblestone pathway.

“Eren! I finally found you!” a familiar voice cheerily yelled in his ear.

“H-Hange… c-can’t breathe...” Eren tried to pull their arms off his neck but they had a stronger grip than he expected.

“Oops! Sorry.”

They immediately let go and Eren took a lungful of air in and gingerly rubbed his neckline. Hange gave him a sheepish grin, trying to look innocent as possible. “So, what do you need, Hange?” Eren asked suspiciously. The last time Hange went looking for him, he was suddenly buried under a mountain of candy while he was doing his council work as thanks for the Valentine’s chocolates (Professor Ackerman was not amused while Isabel gladly started eating the pile).

“I need you to do me a favor.”

His suspicion grew. “What favor?”

“Levi’s sick and I need you to deliver this to his room.” Hange made a circular motion with their wand and snapped their fingers with their left hand and a tray appeared in front of him. He instinctively grabbed hold of the handles and saw that the tray had a teapot with a matching cup and there was a bowl of soup in the middle with a spoon on top of a napkin beside it.

He gave them a look. “I don’t understand, why can’t _you_ bring it to him instead of finding me to do it?”

“It’s because he has a protective seal around his room that I can’t enter through,” they pouted. “Just because I broke his prized teacup the last time I was in there, doesn’t mean he should block me out. He’s so unreasonable, ne?”

Eren sighed. “I’ll go deliver this to him then,” he said, turning his heel away from them. As nice as Hange was, he had a feeling they would go on a rant about all the mean things Professor Ackerman has done to them since the first day they met. It wouldn’t be the first time they told him that spiel, and it probably won’t be the last, but he had to go deliver the man his tea and soup before it got cold.

He entered the building that was strictly for professors and quickly found Professor Ackerman’s room. (It wasn’t hard to find given the fact there was a large purple dome-like barrier in front of the door.) Eren tentatively stuck his foot out and seeing that there were no repercussions, he fully entered through the barrier and balancing the tray on one hand, he knocked on the door twice.

Hearing no answer, Eren turned the doorknob, surprised that the door was already unlocked, and quietly stepped in. He was momentarily stunned by the beautiful interior of the room. It was spacious with minimal decoration (to Eren’s amusement, the furniture was in pastels) and it was exceptionally clean. It was hard to imagine how Professor Ackerman could have fallen ill if his personal chambers were borderline sterile. Hell, even the carpeted floors look as though it could sparkle.

A cough interrupted his thoughts and he made his way to the end of the room where the bed was. “Sir?”

“Y-you-” The sentence was broken by another coughing fit. Eren placed down the tray on the nightstand and pulled off the covers to see a pale (paler than usual, anyways) and flushed Professor Ackerman. He was slightly sweating and his silver eyes were unfocused as though he was trying to find where his face was.

“How are you feeling?” Eren decided to ask. He placed the back of his hand on the man’s forehead and a hand weakly slapped it.

“What are you doing here? Get out,” was what the professor said instead. His voice was hoarse and he ended off with another cough.

“Hange told me to deliver you some tea and soup,” Eren said as he helped Professor Ackerman sit up straight before grabbing the tray and placing it on his lap. “It should have cooled down by now. Have you taken any medicine yet?”

“I don’t need you to baby me. I can handle something simple as a cold on my own,” he grumbled.

“While I am aware of your capabilities on taking care of yourself, as your husband, your well-being is my concern,” Eren said with a strict tone.

Professor Ackerman rolled his eyes. “You’re really milking this whole marriage thing, aren’t you?”

“Drink your soup or else I’ll call for Isabel and Farlan to take care of you. I’m sure Hange would give them plenty of ideas on how to speed up your recovery.”

The man cursed and grabbed the spoon. Eren internally grinned and excused himself to go to the bathroom that was connected to the bedroom. He opened the medicine cabinet and read all of the labels until he found one perfect for colds and reducing fevers.

Walking back into the bedroom, Professor Ackerman finished drinking his soup and was now holding a cup of tea. Eren wordlessly handed him the bottle and the wizard opened it and took two pills while Eren took the tray away.

He then went out and fetched a glass of water and came back into the room and passed it to his husband (despite it being temporarily true, it still sounded weird to refer him as that) who drank the entire thing.

“Do you need me to tuck you in?” Eren asked teasingly.

“Fuck off,” was the reply before Professor Ackerman ducked under his covers.

Eren nearly ran out of the room so that the man couldn’t hear the chuckles he was desperately trying to hold in.

‘Cute’ was not an adjective he would associate Professor Ackerman, but he could be surprisingly childish. Sometimes he wondered how much older the man was but quickly dismissed that thought. He was sure that if he asked his professor his age was the day he would no longer saw him as ‘cute.’

Opening the door just a crack, Eren took out his wand and chanted something under his breath before making a zig-zag motion, sending a healing spell to the sleeping figure on the bed.

Professor Ackerman glowed green for a bit before the spell disappeared. Pleased, Eren shut the door and walked back to the school to report to Hange about how their favorite patient was doing.

 

 

 

It was a Saturday morning like any other. The sun was shining, birds were chirping, and Eren was once again in the council room, ready to do his job as per usual; however, there was a large, mysterious package right on his working desk.

He closed the door behind him, eyeing the box suspiciously. Was it for him? Or was it misplaced by a fellow student council member the day before?

As he stepped closer, he saw the top of the box labeled, ‘To the newest member of the Ackerman family.’

Eren’s breath hitched. Only Hange, Historia, and the professor knew about the marriage, so how-?

He quickly ripped off the envelope that was taped to the package and started reading its contents:

_‘Congratulations on finally managing to wrangle little Levi into marriage. And sorry – you know as much as I know that Levi isn’t exactly a… blossomed flower. I bet he would much rather see his good ol’ uncle turn into ashes than smile. Huh, guess it runs in the family. No take backs, kiddo – you made a shitty choice.’_

Eren didn’t know whether to laugh or roll his eyes. Apparently, this person doesn’t know the exact details of his and Professor Ackerman’s ‘marriage.’ It was more like a contract to save his ass more than anything else.

_‘Anywho, I’m glad my sweet nephew got over the past – it’s not good to dwell on it too much you know – and tied the knot. Though I expected a sweet niece-in-law, I’m not one to judge on preferences.’_

Ignoring the last sentence, Eren re-read the other line. The past? Was Professor Ackerman in a relationship before? And if he did, what happened?

Eren bit his lips when his heart clenched and continued reading,

_‘I bet you’re great in the sack if you got stone-hearted Levi into marriage.’_

Well, there went away the heart-wrenching feeling.

_‘If you need anything, let me know. Even though I know for a fact that Levi burns my letters to him, you are still welcomed into the family and I, along with the others who share the Ackerman name, will help you whenever you need it._

_Here are some wedding gifts I prepared for you two. One of them is the key to a cottage in Sina that he fancied as a kid. I would personally give it to Levi myself, but he probably won’t accept it and chuck it at me. What a stubborn shit he is, but he learned from the best._

_Use the cottage for your honeymoon-’_ Eren blushed. _‘-or a place to start raising a family if you two were to adopt-’_ Eren blushed harder. _‘-or sell it. Whatever you two decide. It’s the least I can do for my dearest nephew and his beau._

_Best of luck to you, Mr. now-Ackerman. You’ll need it._

_Kenneth (please, for the love of white magic just call me Kenny) Ackerman_  
_18th Lord of the Ackerman family’_

The letter ended with a fancy signature and an address written underneath. Eren sighed and looked at the package again. As much as he wanted to take a peek at what was inside, he wouldn’t feel right. It was sent by Professor Ackerman’s uncle (despite their dubious relationship based on the letter) with the intention of being used by Professor Ackerman and his spouse. An actual spouse, not as a stand-in.

Eren folded up the letter and put it back on the envelope and taped it back on the package before moving it to Professor Ackerman’s desk. It was best to leave it alone and wait for what his professor would have to say about it.

It was a few moments later until Professor Ackerman waltzed into the room.

“Sir, there’s a package that was addressed to me but I think you should take a look at it.”

The man gave him a look but then his eye twitched when he saw the familiar handwriting. With a huff, Professor Ackerman ripped the envelope open and Eren raised a brow at the aggressive behavior.

Professor Ackerman’s face turned grimmer the more he read and just like the letter alluded, it was suddenly consumed in fire before disappearing.

Eren watched as Professor Ackerman giving the box a wary glare before carefully opening it. He almost stood up to take a look, but the snarl took him aback.

Professor Ackerman may make scathing remarks and scoff every so often, but never had Eren heard something so deadly rumbling from the chest.

He jumped when the professor actually took a swing at the box but recoiled when it glowed blue and unscathed.

Professor Ackerman hissed. “Bastard put up a protection spell.”

“Are you alright, sir?” Eren asked worriedly. He marched his way to him and held Professor Ackerman’s hand with his to see if it was injured in any way. “What was in it that got you so worked up?”

“None of your damn business,” Professor Ackerman spat out, yanking his hand away. He snatched the box off the table and stormed out of the room without saying anything else.

Eren frowned at the sudden departure. _‘What the hell was that about?’_

The door opened again and to Eren’s surprise, Professor Ackerman popped his head back in. “Thank you for not opening the box. Surely you deserve five merits for not further meddling into my affairs, yes?” he said with a smirk before leaving once more.

Was… was he being bribed with merits for keeping his mouth shut?

Eren couldn’t help but laugh. First, he was angry for being doted on, and then he tried to be calm and sneaky. Really, Professor Ackerman was quite the character.

Eren was still chuckling when Isabel later found him at his desk. When questioned why he was laughing, he gave her a mischievous smile and tapped his lips with his finger.

“It’s a secret.”

 

 

 

“Eren? A word, please?”

Eren turned around to a grinning Hange. “Sure.” He followed them to their office and plopped down on one of the plush chairs while they sat on their desk. “What do you need, Hange?”

“What are your plans for Spring Break?”

He shrugged. “Not much, just going back home to my family and friends. I don’t think we’re going anywhere special this year. Why do you ask?”

Hange hummed at his answer. “I was wondering if you would consider staying in the academy during the break with Levi and spend time with him.”

“Spend time with him? Is there an obligation I didn’t know that I need to fulfill?”

The headmaster shook their head. “No. I simply thought that it would be a good opportunity for you two to become closer since there won’t be as many prying eyes during the break.”

“Hange, you do know that we’re not in love with each other, right?” It hurt to say it out loud, but Eren had to make it clear to them that his and the professor’s status was based on a contract, but for some reason, Hange has been trying to push them into a real relationship. “Lately, you’ve been trying to get us alone together and I don’t know why.”

They offered him a wry grin and push off from the desk to stand in front of him. “Eren, the reason why I’m doing this is because Levi is my very good friend and I want him to be happy. I know it’s not exactly my story to tell but…” They paused and looked down with a frown. “When he was around your age, he fell in love with this girl. A brilliant wildseed, just like you.”

Eren’s eyes widened but didn’t say anything as they continued, “You would think he would’ve known better, but he was young and fearless and did something he shouldn’t have done. He tried crossing the Otherworld with her.”

Eren couldn’t help but gasp. “That means…”

Hange’s looked away and their eyes were distant. “An unguarded human soul that passes through the Spiral Gate, no matter how much magic they know of, so long as they were not originally born from the Otherworld, will shine through the darkest of corners and be carried off by the creatures that lurk there, waiting for their next prey.

“Eren, Levi watched her spirit be drained before his eyes.”

“I- that’s…” Eren swallowed the lump in his throat, but his mouth was still dry. “That must’ve been terrible for him to see.”

Hange nodded grimly in agreement. “It was. After that, he never went back to the Otherworld and shut off his heart since then.”

“Was that why he tried summoning his family’s Manus? So that it would grant his desire to bring her back?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t believe so. Her spirit is long gone. If anything, the Manus was summoned so he could have it deliver something to his family since he no longer wants to cross the Otherworld but it requires a lot of magic to do so.”

Eren sighed and buried his face in his hands. “Should you really be telling me this? He’s going to be mad when he knows of this conversation. You know that he doesn’t like people prying into his personal life.”

“He might get mad at me but he won’t be angry at you,” they said, and Eren can _hear_ their smile. “You’re his special exception because you are his husband. While he does close off from people, he can’t shut you out that easily.”

Eren lifted his head and he was right about them smiling. “Your love may not be as one-sided as you think it is if you work at it,” they said to him and Eren blushed.

“I do not love him, Hange.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” they teased. “Who knows what will happen in a year’s time.”

Eren groaned and buried his face in hands again, but this time, he was covering his blushing face.

Hange patted Eren’s head. “There, there, starshine. Just think about what I said. And if you need any help seducing that grump, just let me know.”

Hange laughed at his indignant shout as he abruptly stood up and left the room without so much as a hasty goodbye. When the door closed shut, they tapped their wand on the desk three times. A drawer opened and a slip of paper flew out and into their hand. It was a photo of a younger Levi, themself, and a girl in between them, smiling (or in Levi’s case, smirking) with the school gates behind them.

Touching the face of the girl in the middle of the photo, Hange smiled. “Hopefully this will get things rolling along. Eh, Petra?”

 

 

 

It was a week after Spring Break that Eren finally had a chance to speak with Professor Ackerman alone.

“How are the preparations for the Thunder Call coming along?”

“Good, sir. We have the drummers ready and the freshman classes have been notified about the ritual. All we have to do is wait for the first storm of the month.”

Professor Ackerman sighed. “Hopefully it’ll be soon. I would rather have this shitty tradition dealt with quickly as possible.”

“I take it that you’re not fond of people screaming to the sky and dancing like monkeys around magical fire until the storm ends?” Eren supplied.

“How did you know?” Professor Ackerman deadpanned, humoring him.

Eren chuckled. “How was your Spring Break?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

“Good. I spent the week in Trost at the beaches there.”

“You? On a beach? Really? I hope you brought enough sunscreen and aloe with you.” Eren dodged the book that was thrown at him with a wide grin.

Professor Ackerman waved his wand and the book returned to his hand. “It was a joke. I would never willingly step foot on a beach on my own accord.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sure you had a nice break with whatever you were doing. Probably more than I did,” Eren said, mumbling the last part to himself.

“Troubles at home?”

Eren pensively looked down and shrugged. “Not exactly. I just… it didn’t feel like home anymore. I felt out of place there and a lot of things changed since I left.”

“That’s very common for wildseeds,” Professor Ackerman explained. “You do know that students like yourself could apply to live on academy grounds full-time until graduation, yes?”

“Er, yeah. Hange kinda told me about it.” No way was Eren going to tell him about Hange’s real intention of him staying in school. “But you live on campus for majority of the year, right? I wouldn’t want to bother you with my presence milling around even after the school year is over.”

“You’re not as annoying as you think you are.” Professor Ackerman cleared his throat. “If you would excuse me, I have some errands to run.”

“Oh, okay. It was nice speaking with you, sir.” Eren waved as the man left the room. But just as the door closed shut, a large, red box appeared right in front of him.

He instinctively reached out for it and it landed on his hands. The box was wrapped with black ribbon and Eren read out loud the note that was tucked underneath the bow.

“Happy Belated Birthday.”

Eren grinned as he tugged the ribbon off and opened the box. Inside was a dark green tunic with gold detailing and a dark blue cloak. Nothing overly fancy, but when Eren took the cloak out, it started to glow and he gasped when purples and whites blended in with the fabric and it looked like the galaxy with sparkling little dots that looked like stars.

He wrapped himself in the cloak, immediately feeling refreshed and relaxed under the weight of it. He resisted snuggling into it and mumbled a quiet “Thank you” in the empty classroom. Even though Professor Ackerman wasn’t there to hear it, Eren had a feeling that the man knew his sentiments regardless.

_‘Maybe Hange was right. Maybe it’s not so one-sided after all.’_

Eren sighed and wrapped himself tighter with the cloak and with a gentle smile on his face, his thoughts overtaken with the renowned grump who was actually really sweet. It just took him several weeks to break through that shell to know that.

And maybe, before the school year ends, he could even break into the closed-off heart.

 

 

 

Eren concealed his drawn-out yawn, being considerate to the other students around him in the library, as he broke away from his textbook. Normally, Armin would be here with him around this time but the blond was off at the mall to pick up something, thus leaving him to study by himself but he was so bored. He was already ahead of his studies and he didn’t feel like practicing new spells at the moment (especially if he didn’t have Armin around to make sure the spell didn’t turn disastrous).

Birds chirping broke away his thoughts and he looked out the window to the bright blue sky. Packing up his books, he decided he would go take a walk around the courtyard and study outside near the fountain. Maybe a change in scenery would make him break out of his boredom.

Whistling, he strolled around the fountain to find a good place to settle down but he heard shouting in the distance. Curiosity getting the better of him (and also because he wants to put off studying for a bit), he walked through a passageway that leads to the school’s gardens and saw some familiar figures up ahead. They looked like they were in a heated argument and the bulkier one of the group pushed the taller one, making them stumble. Eren walked faster and saw that Reiner and Ymir were yelling at each other and Historia was trying to hold Reiner back.

“-nd if you think for one second that I’m gonna sit back as I watch you do that shit to her, then you have another thing coming you fucking son of a bitch.”

“Ymir, stop,” Historia pleaded. “Don’t provoke him.”

“Provoke? What am I, some sort of animal?” Reiner was red in the face. “You don’t talk to me like that.”

“Yes you are, and yes I fucking can if you’re being an asshole to my friend.” Ymir was normally calm and collected and even snarky, but it was a far cry from what her demeanor was now. She looked absolutely _livid_ and probably would’ve ripped Reiner’s throat out if Historia wasn’t there in her way. “I’ll say it again since it didn’t get through your thick head the first time. Stay away from her.”

“She’s my girlfriend, not yours. I can do whatever I want with her.”

“Historia is not property!” Ymir screeched, lunging at him.

Eren quickly stepped in and held her back while Historia desperately tried to calm Reiner down.

“Reiner, please just stop. It’s embarrassing.”

Reiner put down his raised fist and looked down at the girl. “Babe, after all I’ve done for you, this is how you repay me? By throwing everything back at my face and telling me it’s embarrassing? I’m being used by you, aren’t I?”

“No, that’s not what I was-”

“What more do you want from me?” Reiner was clenching his teeth. “You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you? You would be much happier if I dropped dead for you.”

“I know I would be much happier,” Ymir mumbled. Eren slapped his hand over her mouth.

Historia looked distressed. “No, Reiner. That’s not why I’m trying to say.”

“Forget it.” Yanking his arm from her grasp, he threw Ymir a scathing glare. “You better watch your back,” was what he said before walking away.

Eren let out the breath he was holding in and slowly let go of Ymir and she immediately went over to where Historia was and held the visibly shaking girl by her shoulders.

“Are you two going to be alright?” Eren asked.

“We’ll be fine,” Ymir answered.

“I’ve never seen him so angry before,” Historia whispered. “You know how he is, Ymir. I’m scared of what he might do to you.”

Ymir wrapped her arms around her friend and hushed her. Eren stepped in. “Historia, I know you don’t want others to get involved, but we’re really worried for you. I’m going to speak with one of the professors and see what they can do to help us.”

Eren watched as she bit her lips but Ymir held her hand and Eren reached for the other. He gave her a firm, but reassuring squeeze. “Historia, it’s going to be okay. We’re here for you.”

“What Eren said. I’m not going to stand back anymore. You helped me when I needed it and now it’s my turn to help you,” Ymir stated.

Historia looked between the two of them and seeing their determined faces, she cast her eyes down and nodded. “Okay.”

“Good girl.” Eren patted her head and stepped away from the hugging duo. “I’ll be off now, but I’ll speak with you later to see what we could do. Take care of her, Ymir.”

“I will. Thanks, Eren.”

“Anything for my friends.” He left them, feeling confident that Ymir would take good care of Historia, and headed back to the school.

 _Knock knock._ “Professor Ackerman? Sir? Are you in?” Eren waited a moment before the door opened and stepped inside.

Professor Ackerman was at his desk and looked up when he stepped in. “What is it now?”

“It’s about Historia and Reiner, sir,” Eren said as he approached his desk.

“Reiss and Braun? What about them? You know I don’t have any interests in students’ personal lives compared to shitty glasses.”

“But I’m really concerned for Historia’s well-being,” Eren said.

Seeing the distraught look on the other’s face, Professor Ackerman sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Speak.”

“You see, Historia has been telling me about her relationship with Reiner and how she feels stressful it was and that he was possessive and never left her alone. She tried breaking it off with him but he made a public declaration of his love for her and was pressured to take him back. He bought her a large amount of Valentines claiming that she was his and just now, he had a fight with her and Ymir and said that Historia was using him and would rather see him dead, threatening Ymir before he left and making Historia upset.”

Professor Ackerman was silent, listening to Eren’s explanation with a frown until he brunet finished. “He’s using controlling and manipulative behavior I see.”

“Yes, and he’s always checking up on her and demanding her attention by yelling and drawing other people in. It’s obvious Historia doesn’t appreciate it but he doesn’t see it and when she tries talking to him, he won’t listen and skew her words.” Eren held his arm and looked down. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I’ll personally speak with Miss Reiss and Mister Braun separately to get the whole picture and give a few words to Mister Braun if I see that he is behaving as you say he is,” Professor Ackerman said. “This kind of attitude is unacceptable and unbefitting of a student of this academy.

“Though I must say, I’m surprised that you told me about this matter. I’m not usually anyone’s first pick to share about personal issues.”

“That’s because I trust you, sir.” And it was the truth. Professor Ackerman was a man of his word and Eren valued his honesty and clear judgment on things. “If it’s about protecting someone, you’re the first person who comes to mind.”

Professor Ackerman stared at him and Eren blushed when he realized what he just said.

“I see…”

“So yeah…” Great. Real smooth. “I-I guess I’ll be leaving now, sir. Thank you for listening.” He didn’t even take one step away when his name was called.

“Eren.”

“Yes, sir?” was his instant reply. Then he realized that it was the first time Professor Ackerman called him by his first name and his eyes widened.

Professor Ackerman’s lips twitched up. “You don’t always need to be so formal around me. You say ‘sir’ every second sentence and it’s kind of redundant at this point.” The possibly-smile dropped down to his usual frown. “But do not disrespect my authority on public grounds. We still need to retain our student-teacher relationship to prying eyes but we can drop the charade when we’re alone. It can get tiresome since the time we see each other is more often than I would like it to be.”

“Of course,” Eren said, biting the inside of his cheek so he wouldn’t smirk. Really, Professor Ackerman says one thing and then tries to cover it up with another.

Professor Ackerman nodded. “Good day then.”

Eren paused in front of the door, a hand already on the doorknob, and said something spur of the moment, “See you later, _Levi_ ,” before opening the door and slamming it shut behind him. He chuckled when he heard an indignant shout and walked away.

 _“Levi,”_ Eren tested again but a soft whisper. A giggle escaped from his lips and he grinned from ear to ear, practically prancing his way back to his room to finish studying with newfound motivation.

 

 

 

There it was again.

Eren whipped his head to a group of students who looked away the moment his eyes landed on them. This time, he continued staring until one of the girls looked back at him, snickered, and gestured the rest of the group to follow her away, trying to sneak glances back at him and whispering to each other.

Eren let out a frustrated sigh. That was like the eighth group that did that. What? Was there something on his face? Or did Jean put a disappearing spell on his robes again?

He looked down. Nope. Everything was in order. He touched his face and he felt nothing out of the ordinary.

“Hey, Eren!”

Eren ceasing his self-checking when Connie came up to him along with Sasha. “What?”

“Does he treat you well? I bet he’s cruel to you,” Connie said.

The brunet scrunched his brows. “Who’s being cruel to me?”

“Your husband of course,” Sasha answered. “Everyone’s talking about it.”

 _“My what!”_ Shit shit shit. How did they know? “I- but…”

Before he could make up an excuse, someone called out to him.

“EREN. YEAGER. How dare you didn’t tell me about this!” Isabel all but screeched. Farlan was behind her, but instead of his usual sheepish smile at her antics, his lips were shut and looked slightly betrayed. “I can’t believe big bro kept us in the dark about this. We’ve been trying to set the two of you up for weeks and to think that you two were already together. Oh, when I get my hands on him I’m gonna-”

“Well congratulations, man. I know Professor Grumpy isn’t the definition of a perfect husband, but there’s gotta be something in there that we don’t see for you to be married to him,” Connie said with a smile. “Hey, do you think you could ask him to give me extra merits? I don’t want to go into the next exam with demerits on my record.”

Students that were close by heard Connie’s remark and started gathering around him. Their voices clamored into a jumbled mess of congratulations, favors, and asking him questions about Professor Ackerman’s personal life and interests and even questions about he was like in bed.

**“YOU.”**

Everyone quickly parted to the side just as Professor Ackerman stormed down the hallway and forcibly grabbed Eren’s arm.

“You are coming with me.”

The lack of curse words – that was more than appropriate to use in this situation – scared him and quietly followed the man to his office. Not even Isabel jumped in to interrogate him.

It was only until they were alone and the professor muttered a barrier spell on the door did he let go of Eren’s arm. Rubbing his probably bruised skin, he nervously looked at the man.

“S-sir?”

“Do you think this is funny, _Mister Yeager-Ackerman?_ ” Professor Ackerman hissed, narrowing his eyes. “Do you realize that the whole school now knows of our relationship? How it suddenly spread like wildfire? I’m already receiving messages from the council board pertaining to inappropriate misconduct and that I am now under surveillance until a forced meeting with them.

“I let you in my life, allowing you to be informal when we’re alone. I gave you an inch and you had to take the mile, didn’t you?

“But it wasn’t me,” Eren hastily said. “I never uttered a single thing about our relationship to anyone, I swear.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

Eren snapped. “I’ve never once lied to you. If anything, it’s _you_ who’s being a fucking idiot and not-”

A flash of red suddenly appeared in his line of vision and next thing he knew, he was pinned to the wall, his toes barely touching the ground. Professor Ackerman fisted his hands around the collar of his uniform and his eyes were blazing with fury, teeth clenched.

“I don’t want to hear it. You think you know everything, don’t you? That because you’re young, you’re invincible to everything around you, not thinking of the consequences. You make mistakes and don’t think upon them because we’re here to save you.

“I have sworn to take you as my husband for a year. I’m supposed to protect you from harm’s way but you took it for granted. I can do multiple things that can still fulfill my part of the agreement and role by locking you away in the dungeons to keep you safe.”

Eren gasped for breath, unable to speak. It felt like something was pushing down his voice and all he could do was watch the air around Professor Ackerman turned into an eerie calm and his face devoid of any emotion.

“This is your last warning.”

His body dropped to the floor and Eren gingerly rubbed his throat, glaring up at the man.

Professor Ackerman pointedly ignored him, turning his back to him. “Run off now. Have fun with your newfound fame, _Mister Yeager-Ackerman_.”

The sound of his own breathing was the only thing he heard when the man left the room. Biting down his tongue, he took off to his own room to figure out what had just happened.

Surprisingly, he did not encounter a single person on his way back and let out a sigh of relief when he managed to get to his room, flopping on his bed and burying his face into his pillow.

His relief was short-lived, however, when the door knocked.

“Eren? Are you in there?”

The door opened and Armin and Jean stepped in.

“Eren?” Armin asked again.

“Leave me alone.”

“What’s with you, Yeager? It’s not like you to be this angry over some rumors,” Jean said.

Eren hurled his pillow at him. “I _said_ leave me alone, horseface.”

Jean manage to grab the incoming object with an irritated scowl. “What the fuck is wrong with you? I’m just trying to lighten up the mood.”

Armin stepped in between the two and looked at Eren right in the eyes. “It’s true, isn’t it.” It was said as a statement, not a question.

Eren looked down and said nothing.

“Seriously?” Anger gone, Jean’s eyes widened. “I know we joke about you having a crush on him, but I didn’t think you would actually get married to him.”

“I didn’t mean to…”

“Didn’t mean to? Dude, you can’t just accidentally get married unless you’re drunk and in Vegas.”

“I’m not lying!” Eren rose his voice up in anger. “This isn’t my fault and now Professor Ackerman is furious with me and I can’t do jack shit about it.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Armin asked softly. “That rumor about Professor Zoe being seen with wedding robes and baskets... those were for you, weren’t they?”

Armin was met with more silence. Jean behind him sat down on his bed and Armin moved to sit down next to Eren, tilting his head on the brunet’s shoulder. “Eren, please tell us the truth. You can trust us.”

Eren warily looked over to Jean and despite their differences, Jean doesn’t go back on his word.

Seeing the taller boy’s nod, he told them of how it happened – the summoned Manus, trying to rescue Professor Ackerman, Professor Zoe coming up with a plan to save him, the agreement, everything.

Jean whistled when Eren finished. “Man, that sucks. I don’t know whether or not to call you brave or suicidal for going through the whole marriage ordeal.”

“I’m an idiot,” Eren said with a broken smile before it went back to a frown. “I didn’t tell anyone about it so I don’t know how this started. How did you two find out?”

“People were saying that Professor Ackerman got married over the break,” Jean said. “Didn’t hear about you until later in the hallways.”

“There’s also that letter Eren wrote for the initiation,” Armin added. “And Hitch said that she saw your date with him at _The Walls_ , but she could’ve been making it up.”

Eren sighed for the nth time that day and shook his head. “This is all confusing.”

Armin patted his hand. “We might not have been able to reach a conclusion of how the rumors began right now, but it’ll come in time.”

“Chin up, Yeager. It’s not like you to be meek.”

Eren slowly smiled. “Aw, ponyboy, that’s so sweet of you.”

Jean blushed and threw his pillow back at him and they all laughed. Even though his problems were far from over, at least in this room, his friends listened to him and know the whole truth and were on his side. And that was enough for him for now.

 

 

 

There were a series of knocks on the door that woke up the sleeping occupants in the room.

“Want me to get that?” Armin asked, stifling his yawn. Jean answered with a snore and Eren groaned as he rolled over and blearily looking over to the unmoving blond who was fighting the urge to go back to bed. It was barely dawn and the room was still dark.

 _Knock knock._ “Eren? May I please speak with you?”

Eren’s eyes shot opened and Armin gasped when they recognized the voice. Eren scrambled out of his bed and rushed to the door, opening it to see Professor Ackerman with an indistinguishable look on his face.

“S-sir,” Eren greeted, trying his best to maintain eye contact. Even though they didn’t part on good terms, he was still his husband despite what had happened the day before.

“I came here to apologize,” Professor Ackerman said, startling Eren but the wizard paid no attention to it as he closed his eyes and sighed. “Miss Reiss came forward and confessed that she was the one who disclosed personal information and accepted full responsibility for her actions.”

_‘Historia? Why would she do that?’_

“I was wrong for behaving like I did and jumping to conclusions without properly hearing you out. I’m the adult here, but I was brash and quickly placed blame on you for the rumors and for that, I’m very sorry, Eren.”

That was the second time he said his name this morning and the second time ever he apologized to him. Discreetly, Eren pinched himself to see if he was dreaming – and nope, he wasn’t.

He wasn’t as discreet as he thought since Professor Ackerman rolled his eyes. “It seems like this is a common occurrence for me. You’re not in trouble, Eren. The cat’s out of the bag now so I’ll take responsibility as your husband and make a proper announcement to dispel any false rumors that may have manifested from this.”

Eren blinked when his professor turned his back on him and started to walk away. “Oh. Okay then. Thank you, sir.”

Professor Ackerman momentarily paused and said, “Call me Levi,” and walked away, leaving Eren at his door, pinching himself again to see if he somehow went back to sleep.

“Ow!”

Nope, definitely not a dream.

 

 

 

“Oh, hey Bert. How are you doing?” Eren greeted his fellow classmate that was heading his way.

The taller boy visibly shook from the acknowledgment and averted his eyes to the floor, speed walking right by before Eren could say anything else. Annie, Bertholdt’s companion who was walking with him, breezed by Eren without giving him a glance.

Eren clenched his teeth. While it was normal for Bertholdt to be nervous around him (or anyone for that matter), he would at least meet his eyes. And even though Annie could be antisocial at times, she would have the courtesy to at least acknowledge him with a nod or something in favor of words, but this time, there was none of that.

And it wasn’t just those two either. Everyone has been avoiding him ever since he got to his first class. No one greeted him back, no one asked him for help with homework or studying, and there was no mention about his and Levi’s relationship either, which was odd considering how many people came over to his room and tried to coax information out of him the night before.

“Armin!” Eren called out when he saw his friend walk out of the room.

The blond stiffened at his name being called and tentatively turned to face him. “Oh, Eren. Er, hi.”

Eren furrowed his brows at how hesitant he was being. “Armin? Do you know what’s going on?”

“N-no... Why do you ask?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Armin.”

“Sorry, I have to go. I’m sure you’re busy too with being Professor Ackerman’s husband and all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’ll see you later.” Avoiding his question, Armin took off and Eren cussed under his breath. He looked over to Connie and Sasha who were standing off to the side, and they too looked away and scurried off.

Pissed about the way he was being treated, he made his way to the main source of everyone’s fear to get some answers.

“What’s the matter, Eren?” Levi asked when Eren stormed into his office.

“Everyone’s ignoring me.”

“And?”

Eren slammed his hands on his desk. “For the past few months, I’ve kept silent about the marriage to everyone. My friends, my family… I’ve been keeping secrets from them and because of it, I’ve become distant and feel like an outcast. I don’t really belong anywhere.” He unconsciously clenched his fists. “And now that everyone in the school knows that we’re married, they see me as your husband, not a student like them. They don’t talk to me anymore and they look scared if I go up to them.”

“I can only imagine,” Levi drawled.

“Oh.” Eren stepped away from the desk and took a deep breath. “Sorry for venting out like that. I shouldn’t take my frustrations on you. I know you’re also in the same predicament as me, but I guess that’s why I came here since we’re in the same boat and all.”

Levi shook his head. “It’s fine, Eren. Marriage and everything included with it isn’t easy.”

“You’re telling me. I would’ve expected my spouse to like me at least.”

He unintentionally mumbled that out but thought he didn’t say it loud enough for Levi to hear until the man stilled in his seat.

“Oh, shit. Sorry, I was out of line.”

They awkwardly looked at each other until Levi was the first to break away. “You’re not that bad.”

Eren had to strain his ears to hear it, but when he did, his heart skipped a beat. “What?”

Levi cleared his throat before looking back at him. “I said, you’re not that bad. You are a strong and courageous person with a lot of admirable traits. You can be reckless and impulsive and sometimes a little shit, yes, but you’re a young man who’s still growing and learning about the world around him.

“And though you’re not born into magic, you work hard and excel in class and your merits and skills show it. It’s very admirable that you stand up for your friends and once you set your mind to something, you’re determined to see through it to the end. And your presence is more favorable than having Hange hanging around.”

Eren’s jaw dropped and was sure he was turning red from all the praise. Never in a million years would he have thought that he would hear Levi list off his good characteristics. Of course, he gives kudos when it was due (in a roundabout way), but this was line after line of compliments about him as a person.

Eren felt pleasantly warm all over and his previous anger vanished at a drop of the hat. “Th-thank you.”

“Thank your parents for raising you well,” Levi waved off. “Now go. The final exam is right around the corner and I need to make preparations for it as you need to study.”

“Would it be alright if I come bother you again if I have something to talk about?” Eren blurted out. Now that he got his insecurities off his chest, he developed a deeper bond with the man and wanted to spend more time with him.

“Don’t you already do?” Levi replied with a smirk. Watching Eren just before he left, he said, “Have a good day, Eren. I have high expectations of you on your final.”

Eren smirked at the doorway. “Don’t get your floral-printed robes in a twist, _Levi._ I’m more than confident that I’ll ace it.” He left the office with a grin, not seeing Levi at his desk sporting a matching one of his own.

 

 

 

Historia found him in the library a few days later.

“Eren.”

“Hey, Historia. Are you here to ask me about the May Day Ball fundraiser?” he nonchalantly asked, not looking up from his textbook.

“I’m sorry.”

Eren sighed. Closing his book, he gestured her to take a seat and sat closer to her. “Why?” He was still bitter that she broke his and Levi’s trust by letting out their secret but he was also curious as to why she did it in the first place.

She hesitated, wringing her fingers into her uniform before speaking with clarity, “I was too wrapped up in my problems to think clearly. After the Reiner incident, I was speaking with Ymir and I vented out to her about my feelings and the marriage thing slipped out. I didn’t actually say that it was you who was married to him, but just Professor Ackerman being married to someone in the school. She then told Connie and suspected it might’ve been you because of your comment during the Valentine’s Day fundraiser and it all went out of control from there. I’m truly sorry for making you go through all that, Eren.”

Eren only nodded. While he still didn’t like the fact that she told about the marriage to someone, it was understandable that she was under a lot of stress after her encounter with Reiner and everything that she kept in exploded and Ymir just so happened to be there. And knowing that Ymir told Connie of all people, of course the rumor spread throughout the entire school within hours.

“It’s alright, Historia. I forgive you.” And he did. There was no point in dwelling on it now especially since he and Levi are back on good terms with each other.

She let out a shaky, relieved breath and leaned over to hug him. “Thank you. I felt horrible considering all you’ve done for me since my relationship with Reiner, Professor Ackerman too.”

“Are you still with him?”

She shook her head. “No. After Professor Ackerman spoken with him, he’s been ignoring me and I’ve been doing the same.”

Eren gave her a squeeze and patted her head before letting go. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

“Thank you again, Eren, for everything. Is there anything I can do for you in return?”

He smiled and tapped on his textbook. “Now that you mentioned it, I’ve been having some trouble doing the regeneration spell and last time I checked, green magic was your specialty.”

Historia laughed and shuffled closer to him, taking out her wand and patted his cheek with it. “Of course. We can’t have the professor’s favorite student failing the exam, no?”

He flicked his wrist and sent a playful breeze spell at her that made her wrinkle her nose adorably which made him laugh as well. “Shut it.”

 

 

 

Eren carefully balanced the tray on one hand as he knocked on the door with the other.

“Come in.”

“Hey, I brought some tea,” he greeted.

“Thank you.” Levi closed the book he was reading and took the offered cup in his usual holding technique and took a careful sip of it with a content look on his face. “Ceylon. Good choice.”

Eren grinned with pride as he took his own cup. “Are Isabel and Farlan coming soon?”

“In about ten minutes or so. They have lots more to prepare since this is their final year.”

He hummed in reply and took a seat next to the man. They had been doing this for the past three weeks now, just sitting around and chatting in Levi’s office with Isabel and Farlan on Sundays. The first meeting was mainly explaining to the pouting redhead about the marriage situation and why they kept it secret. Farlan was far more understanding but still managed to tease Levi about how he managed to marry a cutie with that perpetual bitchface of his.

Levi chucked a book at him for that one.

But after the whole explanation, their conversations turned casual: talking about classes, Isabel’s and Farlan’s future goals after graduating, and funny and embarrassing stories about the seniors narrated by Levi.

During their visits (which only last about an hour before everyone went off to do other things), Eren has learned even more about the man than the times in the council room. Due to it almost being the end of the school year, Levi was busy with final preparations and Isabel was busy with graduation duties, leaving Eren to his treasurer duties alone, so this was a nice way to speak with one another again with the addition of Farlan into the mix.

“Eren.”

“Hm?”

Levi tapped his now empty cup on the saucer. “Why do you think I go through the trouble and scaring my students?”

Eren gave him a questioning look but answered nonetheless, “To protect us, right?”

Levi nodded in approval. “Yes. Magic brings up a lot of possibilities and potential, but it can be dangerous as well, especially for students who are wildseeds like you, who don’t understand the world of magic and how to deal with it. I do my best to make sure the students here learn how to make good decisions and how to control their abilities.

“While your youth allows you to be free, it can also become your downfall. Carelessness can make you fall, and even I won’t be able to save you.”

Thanks to Hange, Eren knew exactly _who_ Levi was talking about but kept his mouth shut.

“We maintain order and discipline here but not every student is able to handle it so we send them back to their families; however, we have to take away their magic before they leave.”

“And their memories,” Eren whispered.

“And their memories of magic,” Levi agreed. “We can’t risk them knowing. That’s what happens to half of the wildseeds who leave the campus to return to their families for the first time don’t come back. They couldn’t handle keeping their magic away from their friends and families or decided not to have anything to do with magic anymore after going back to their old life.”

“…you have an interesting way of making friends.”

Levi snapped his head at him. “What?”

“I know you’re trying to scare me, Levi,” he calmly stated. “You invoke fear into people in order to protect them. I get that, but you’re wrong if you think I’ll change my mind when school’s done and I’m spending the summer with my family. I’ll be back for the fall semester.”

Levi groaned as he rubbed his temple with his fingers. “Why do I even bother,” he mumbled.

Eren couldn’t help but smirk. “Husband or not, you’re stuck with me.”

Levi uncharacteristically ruffled his hair and Eren didn’t bother hiding back his smile as he poured more tea for the both of them.

 

 

 

There was no knock on the door when Hange barged into their room unannounced.

“Here are the exam schedules, dearest,” they said as they handed Eren a slip of paper.

Eren quickly found his name and time but saw two more names underneath. “Wait a minute, why are Armin’s and Jean’s exam at the same time as mine? Is our exam a battle against each other or something?”

Hange laughed and shook their head. “No, but that’s a very interesting suggestion. Perhaps we could do it next year.”

“The final is based on teamwork,” Armin piped in. “We have to complete it as a group to help each other out since some of us specialized in certain magic while others didn’t and vice versa.”

“Shame. I would’ve loved to see Jean’s face when I cast an anti-magic field on him.”

“Bullshit you already know that. You need a large amount of blue and white magic to pull that off.”

“There’s something called ‘studying,’ Jean-bo. Maybe if you weren’t so busy fluttering around Marco, you would’ve learned a few spells by now.”

“Says the one who’s been flirting at every chance with Professor Ackerman.”

“Why you-”

“Enough,” Hange cut in. “As Armin said, this exam is about teamwork and it wouldn’t bode well for any of you if you’re fighting already.” They grinned when the two boys mumbled and Armin was shaking his head, sighing. “You will need to find a crystal orb in the dungeon and transfer your energy into it to make it light up before the time runs out. It’s going to be hard to find and there will be many creatures lurking, so be careful. Best of luck to you, starshines, and I’ll see you at the end. Don’t forget about the May Day Ball after the exams as well.”

They left the room and the boys went right back into their studying. Eren briefly wondered what he was going to for the May Day Ball since he was still technically married and it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to go until flames suddenly appeared right in front of him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Sorry, Eren,” Armin apologized. “I can’t seem to have that spell under control yet.”

Eren sighed and shook his head. “It’s fine. Here, let me help you.”

“Oh, you’ll help him but not me? You’re playing favorites again, Eren.”

“Just go back to learning how to do the farspeech spell since we might need it during the exam. I still can’t believe you haven’t learned that one yet.”

Jean snorted. “Well excuse me for focusing on black magic. You guys are gonna be thankful when I pull out a shatter spell on a monster and save your asses.”

Armin and Eren just shook their heads in exasperation and went back to practicing their spells on each other.

 

 

 

The day of the exam came and they were teleported in the typical examination dungeon, but it was far darker than the other times. Eren cast a small light spell so it wouldn’t attract any nearby creatures and they huddled together.

“What do you think we should do?” Eren asked.

“Wait,” Armin abruptly said. “Before we go on any further, I just wanted to apologize to you, Eren.”

“What do you mean by that?” Jean asked for him.

“I-we weren’t very supportive when you told us that you were married to Professor Ackerman,” the blond confessed. “I thought that after the official announcement, it was actually serious and not an act and that you would change and behave differently around us since it was openly known that you were Professor Ackerman’s husband.”

“And also because he said and I quote, “If any one of you fuckers gives Eren any trouble for this, I’ll personally see to it that you won’t make it to the end of the school year,” yeah?” Jean added.

“That too,” Armin chuckled. “Professor Ackerman can be very intimidating despite the pastels he wears.”

“You’re telling me,” Eren mumbled. “So, we’re good?”

“Yeah. I know the whole marriage thing was under a pretense, but I will still wary about how to act around you, so I’m sorry for brushing you away.”

Jean smirked and nudged his elbow at Eren. “Don’t worry about it so much, Armin. Eren actually likes him.”

“Jean, shut up,” Eren growled as he shoved the other boy in retaliation.

“Really? I thought Jean was just teasing you about it.”

Eren felt a blush crawl up his neck and looked away. “I… do like him in that sense, I guess. He’s different when he’s not in the classroom and can be very sweet if he wants to. He just has an awkward way of doing things. I think we’re friends more than anything else.”

Armin smiled warmly and Jean snickered. “Well, since you’re friends, did he tell you how to get out of here?”

Eren laughed and this time, playfully batted Jean’s arm. “No, because that would be cheating.”

Jean shrugged. “Didn’t hurt to ask.”

A sudden growl from the distance made them jump.

“Okay, now that we’re done with the sentimental stuff, we should really go find that crystal,” Eren said.

“Let’s use the farspeech spell so we can communicate that way so we don’t attract any monsters with our voices,” Armin suggested.

The three waved their wands in a square, circular pattern until they felt their minds connect.

 _“This feels tingly,”_ Jean said inside his head.

 _“We’re on a time limit. We need to get going,”_ Eren said.

Armin piped in, _“Let’s split up and cover more ground. If any of us are in danger or need help, just think it.”_

With a nod, they went their separate ways. Eren also did a detection spell and found various places that held magical power that were traps and dodged them. He heard in his mind of Armin making comments of unusual areas and Jean telling him to not go any further because of monsters nearby.

Eren’s veins thrummed when he felt a strong magical source and called out to his friends.

 _“Did you find it?”_ Armin asked.

 _“Over there.”_ Eren pointed in front of him in a blackened area.

 _“I sense a lot of monsters surrounding it and it’s too far away to teleport there,”_ Jean said.

Eren hummed thoughtfully but then his eyes lit up. _“I got an idea. You two go over there and when I say so, run to the crystal.”_

 _“Okay, we trust you,”_ Armin said as he and Jean moved to the side.

When they were far away enough, Eren cast the call spell, a spell that drew in creatures to the physical area of the caster.

He heard deep growls headed his way and ran to where Armin and Jean were.

_“Now!”_

They ran as fast as they could, bypassing the monsters that took no notice of them, and saw a podium with a suspended crystal orb on top.

“We made it,” Jean whispered, breaking off their mental connection.

“But now what do we do?” Eren asked.

“Professor Zoe said we need to transfer our energy into it, right? I think we just need to put our hand on it,” Armin suggested.

Eren and Jean looked at each other and shrugged. It was worth a try.

They each stepped up to the podium and placed their hands on the floating orb. Eren felt a rushing sensation go up his arm and then the orb glowed brightly before blinding them with white light.

“Ah!”

And suddenly, they were in the school courtyard.

“Congratulations!” Hange was right in front of them, beaming with joy. “You three have successfully completed your freshman year. Each one of you gets ten merits for passing the exam.”

The three looked at each other in a stupor before breaking out in wide grins.

“We did it!” Jean fist pumped the air and Eren and Armin laughed.

Hange chuckled. “You certainly did. Now go and relax before the dance this evening. Congratulations again, and I will see you in the fall.”

Jean and Armin nodded and left to their room. Eren was about to follow them until Hange grabbed his arm.

“Have you made your decision, yet?” they asked.

Eren nodded. “Yeah. I’m going to staying with my family for the summer.”

They frowned at his answer. “But-”

“Don’t worry,” Eren interrupted. “I’m not breaking our, er, _relationship_ or anything. I’m just going to wait for him to make the decision first.”

“He’s lucky to have such a patient husband.” Hange smiled and let go of him. “Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening, Eren. It was a pleasure teaching you.”

“Thanks. And thank you for everything.”

Hange hugged him, and Eren returned it with just as much force (they really liked their hugs tight) before they parted ways.

He met up with Isabel and Farlan after they finished their exams and Isabel immediately latched onto him and wailed in his ear.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Farlan said when Isabel started tearing up.

“I’m not crying about the exam, but it’s the fact that we’re officially done and won’t be here anymore is making me cry,” she said between sniffles. “We can’t go bother big bro anymore, Far.”

“Izzy, we’re going to see him all summer when we go back home. Besides, Eren and Hange are still going to be here to do it for us.”

The girl stopped her crying and blinked. “You’re right.” She patted Eren’s shoulder and gave him a wicked grin. “We’re going to exchange addresses so you can report to me every day about your relationship progress.”

Eren shot a grateful look at Farlan when the taller boy stepped in and pulled her away. Farlan took something out of his pocket and handed it to him. “Here. My address is the first one and the second is Izzy’s. Keep in touch, alright?”

Isabel hugged him again. “It was great spending time with you. I’m glad that you’re the one who’s breaking Levi’s barrier that he surrounds himself with.”

“He can be so dramatic sometimes,” Farlan mused with a playful eye roll. “It was a fun year, Eren. We’ll see if we can arrange something over the summer to hang out.”

“Definitely.” Returning Isabel’s hug and giving one to Farlan as well, he said, “Thank you for everything. Congratulations and best of luck of luck to you two.”

The duo smiled and left him to go get ready for the dance.

“Well then.”

He looked up to the warmly-colored skies and smiled.

“There’s only one thing left to do now.”

 

 

 

Eren wished he had a camera to take a picture of Levi’s surprised face.

“Eren? Shouldn’t you be heading off to the May Day Ball? Our marriage doesn’t prevent you from going. You should go celebrate with your friends.”

“I know, but I just wanted to see you,” he answered casually as he strolled in, sitting in one of the chairs of the office.

Levi watched him silently before moving to sit on the chair next to him. “You look nice,” he said after an awkward moment.

Eren looked down at his outfit. It was the one Levi gifted to him. He paired the tunic with simple black dress pants, and the cloak covered his body like he was engulfed within the universe itself. “Thanks. You look nice as well.” And he did. Levi had on a lilac robe paired with the peach-colored cravat he gave him and a snow white cape that had pink flowers embroidered at the ends.

Levi scoffed and looked away, but Eren swore he saw the pale skin tinged with pink before it disappeared. “In the dungeon…”

“What was that?”

Levi spared him a glance and heaved a heavy sigh. “Were you not aware that I was monitoring your progress during final?”

Now it was Eren’s turn to blush. “Oh. So you mean…” At Levi’s nod, he scratched his cheek in embarrassment. He completely forgot that professors were watching and listening to their every move considering he was more focused on staying alive and escaping.

“Yes, Hange had a fucking field day in the staff room.”

Eren nervously chuckled, unsure of what else to do.

“Eren,” Levi spoke with a serious voice, “I’m just gonna say it: I’m developing a connection with you that’s not appropriate of what a teacher should have with a student. My job is to make sure students don’t make permanent mistakes and keep them from harm. You should go out and enjoy the freedom you still have with your friends.”

Eren angrily stood up and slammed his hands on the armrests on either side of Levi, trapping him to the chair. “Levi, stop this bullshit right now. You keep trying to push me away but I’m not having it. I’m your husband and it is my duty to be there to support you. And if we’re on the topic of confessions, then I have some things to say as well.

“Hange suggested that we should be together for _real_ , and invited me to spend the whole summer here so that I can be with you. They even told me about the girl you fell in love with when you were my age.”

“Don’t bring Petra into this,” he hissed.

Eren didn’t pull back. In fact, he leaned closer. “But that’s just it, Levi. You’re holding on to the past and won’t let go, not letting people in. You ignore people like your uncle who’s trying to look after you, and all they could do is watch and wait for you to get out of this slump you put yourself in.”

He sighed. “Levi, I’m sorry to hear about what happened to Petra, and I can’t fathom what it was like to go through what you have experienced; however, you can’t always live like this, constantly brooding and making sure no one takes the wrong step. We all make mistakes, human, magic-users, or not, and we have to live with whatever choice we made.”

Levi rested his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes. “Are you done?”

“For now.”

A frown set on Levi’s face. “If you know all this shit about me, shouldn’t it be more of a reason for you to stay away?”

“Damnit Levi, I just want to help you, you miserable asshat.”

Levi snorted and cracked his eyes open. “Miserable asshat. Can’t say I’ve heard that one before.” He lifted his hand and surprised Eren by brushing his bangs away. “Seriously, what’s wrong with me? Being pushed around by a teenager who’s still wet behind the ears. I must be getting old.”

Eren looked at him with a soft smile on his lips. “You’re not _that_ old, sir.”

“Oh yeah, that ‘sir’ definitely makes me feel young again.”

He couldn’t hold in his chuckle but Levi was smirking as well.

The room turned dark with the sun finished setting. The candles instantly flickered to life and gentle, warm glows surrounded them.

Maybe it was because he won his way over Levi, or it was the romantic lights around them, but his heart wouldn’t stop beating loudly in his eardrums, feeling the rush of adrenaline for the next few words he was going to say.

“You know, there’s one thing I regret missing out on.”

Levi looked at him curiously. “What is it?”

“I still didn’t get my kiss at the altar.”

His blush was back in full force and he looked down to avoid Levi’s reaction.

There was silence between them and Eren wanted to beat himself up for saying such an idiotic thing until he felt fingers grab his chin. He stumbled forward in surprise and warm lips were on his. Levi’s lips felt small pressed against his own, but they were soft and moved gently with his.

The kiss was too short for his liking and Eren would’ve thought he imagined it until Levi pulled back with a smirk.

“I had a feeling Hange would pull this shit on me. Bet Kenny also bribed them as well as a bonus. He really wants me to get married and go back so I can take over his seat and let him retire.”

“His seat?”

“The Ackermans are influential in the government in the magical world. You were aware of his lord title, were you not?”

“He- what?”

“I knew you saw the letter.” Levi gently tapped Eren’s nose as though he did something endearing.

“I didn’t know that he was _nobility_. Does that mean you’re also…?”

“A noble? Yes, but so are you at the moment.”

Eren felt like someone cast a confusion spell on him. There was so much more about Levi’s life that he didn’t know about.

“You should head back to your room before someone suspects something.” Levi gently pushed Eren out of the way and went to his desk and scribbled something on a sheet of paper and giving it to him. “Write to me if you can, though I suspect Miss- _Izzy_ already hounded you to write to her every day.”

“I’ll write to you as much as possible,” he promised.

“Good. I don’t like waiting.”

Levi walked Eren back to his room and before he opened the door, Levi grabbed his hand.

“Good night, Eren,” he said before kissing the back of his hand and walked away.

Eren automatically turned to enter his room and when the door closed shut, he grabbed his pillow and released an embarrassingly loud squeal in it. He then giggled and held his pillow close and his star-filled cloak covered him, letting it be the last thing he saw before he drifted his eyes shut to go to sleep.

“Good night, Levi.”

 

 

 

“Okay, everything is in.”

Eren slammed down the car trunk and slid into the backseat of the car before it started moving. He watched the school grounds turn smaller and smaller the more they drove away until it was gone and replaced with tall trees and bushes that were on the side of the road.

Eren pulled out a thin book from his backpack and looked through it, barely listening to the conversation his parents were having in front of him.

“Eren?” his dad called to him.

“Yeah?”

“Was it the right decision for you to come to this academy?”

Eren looked back down at the book he was flipping through. It was a yearbook that had various pictures of the events that happened during the school year, pictures of his friends and classmates, senior quotes (he laughed silently at Isabel’s message to Levi to “stop scaring the students with your face”), and most importantly, personal messages written from all the friends he made through the school year.

He traced his finger over one particular message at the bottom of the page that was done in neat, small print:

_'Keep in touch and maybe I’ll tell you why I wear pastels. See you in the fall again, Eren. – Levi'_

“Eren?”

Closing his yearbook, he smiled.

“Yeah. I definitely made the right Choice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! :'D I hope you liked your birthday gift Yufie~ ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :D


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